Desert Fest: When the greatest are to say goodbye

While I may have started watching football during the time of the great Zinedine Zidane, understanding teams -- their strategies, styles, stars, et al -- came to me much later.

When the greatest are to say goodbye Germany was my "mean machine", with the likes of Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn still there and it was in 2006 that I made up my mind regarding who to support and why.

However, that was also when I set my sights on many a player from each team, some of whom are regarded as the world's greatest at the moment, some who may have just played their last World Cup.

For fans like me, this particular tournament is of immense value, mixing the joy of seeing the next footballing magicians to emerge with the sorrow of saying goodbye to the ones that made a generation fall in love the game.

While league football will still be an option for some, we have to accept that this may be the last time we see some of the greatest footballers to have existed on the world field.

As a Germany fan, it is hard to accept that the lanky yet powerful Thomas Muller will not be sneaking in goal after goal one last time on the biggest stage. Similarly, the absence of Marco Reus and Mats Hummels will remain an open wound.

It has, however, been most difficult to accept the exit of Belgian captain and forward Eden Hazard. I first remember falling in love with just his dribbling. Then came the assists and majestic goals at Chelsea.

His performance in the 2018 World Cup was next to incomparable, as he carried his team to the semis like it was a piece of cake.

Among his teammates were the brilliant Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who may also have played their last World Cup.

Another who caught the world's attention in 2018 was none other than the elegant Luka Modric, perhaps also making his final World Cup bow.

The Croat captain captured hearts across the globe, carrying a hard-working and talented team to the final against France, who then featured a precocious Kylian Mbappe.

That teenager's ascendancy since has seen him become the most prized player in football and while he will undoubtedly continue to excite, farewells will also be due for French legends Olivier Giroud -- who become the top-scoring French player of all time at this World Cup -- and Antoine Griezmann.

He is among a host of others that feature the likes of Welsh superstar Gareth Bale, Uruguay's Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez, Polish veteran Robert Lewandowski and Mexican goalie Guillermo Ochoa, who stole attention every time he had taken to the World Cup stage.

We have witnessed some fantastic football from so-called "smaller teams" and while we appreciated their latest stars, we must accept that Senegal's Sadio Mane, Denmark's Christian Eriksen, South Korea's Son Heung-min and Japan legend Maya Yoshida will likely not be around in 2026.

As this World Cup comes closer to a finish, it brings with us the probable end on the world stage of players like Portugal's "grand old man" Pepe, Argentina's Angel Di Maria and Paolo Dybala, Brazil's calm and collected Thiago Silva and nearing-40s Dani Alves.

However, what will make the biggest, and perhaps, the most painful difference from this World Cup to the next is the absence of the two people considered the greatest to have ever done it -- Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

League after league, they have proven their skills, agility, sheer gift from God and more. On the world stage, we have witnessed them drag their teams to preliminaries, knockouts, and even finals.

Their supremacy has been unparalleled from the moment their feet first touched the ball and their entire careers have been nothing short of fairy tales -- fairy tales we were privileged to be a part of.

To realise that we will no more see a game featuring Argentina or Portugal with the grandiose of Messi or Ronaldo comes straight to the heart like a sharp arrow, as an entire generation, and those before it, learned how beautiful football can really be from these two, as they say, "GOATS (greatest of all time)".

This World Cup is nearing its end, and it is ending with a worldful of joy, heartbreak, welcomes and goodbyes.

As for a fan like me, I am now preparing myself, as I believe others are too, for a new generation of brilliant footballers, preparing to see if we ever find our new GOATS (Mbappe in the running!),  and to see who can make football beautiful for us on the world stage again.