Dundee and Dundee United exist in a different football sphere to the World Cup finalists.
But just as Argentina and France will lean heavily on the talismanic Messi and Mbappe in Sunday’s showpiece, the Tannadice Street neighbours each need their key men in top form for the rest of the season.
For me that’s Steven Fletcher in tangerine and Paul McMullan in dark blue.
Now, before you choke on your toast, I’m not for a minute comparing either man to the best on the planet, but everything has its level and, on the stage these two players occupy, they’re both crucial performers for their clubs.
Four goals in 16 appearances isn’t prolific, but in his locker Fletcher also stores clever hold up play, brings others into the game and draws opponents, creating valuable space for teammates to operate in.
He’s also a phenomenally hard worker and his experience and attitude are exemplary for those around him to learn from and emulate.
Dundee, who’ve unleashed their inner assassin with six consecutive wins, have, in McMullan, their own match winner.
His directness, trickery and pace are a constant menace to the opposition and he adds crucial goals to that repertoire.
He’s as important to Dundee’s burgeoning Championship hopes as Fletcher is to United’s battle to boost their way out of the basement and up the Premiership table.
Both are eminently capable of carrying the weight of responsibility which the main men at all clubs must shoulder.
And they have the character required for the rigorous demands their teams will face in the coming months.
St Johnstone players are entitled to be in good spirits after three wins and two draws have lifted them joint level on points with sixth placed Hearts.
But they wouldn’t be human if they didn’t have an eye on the future of the club after the recent news that Geoff Brown has put his majority shareholding up for sale.
Players are no different from any other working Joe, they value security and stability.
And Saints have been the benchmark for both of those under the steady stewardship of the Brown family.
Callum Davidson has settled things sweetly at Perth and is building for the future, but attracting and retaining players can be made more difficult if there’s any uncertainty surrounding the club.
There aren’t too many out of contract at McDiarmid this summer, so that’s a bonus for the boss, but with change in the air it’ll be helpful if any new ownership comes sooner rather than later.
That’ll help maintain the sense of equilibrium which makes Saints the envy of many in the way they’re run.
Arguments over the best player of all time are fruitless.
Everyone has different methods of measuring greatness.
But for me Messi is undoubtedly as good as I’ve seen and, along with Maradona and Pele, has made football as much an art form as a sport.
Cruyff, Best and Johnstone were all magnificent too, but the wee Argentinian has painted so many magnificent pictures on the football pitch in his career that I’ll be rooting for him to lift the World Cup on Sunday.
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