Lionel Messi was at his best mettle as he scored a goal and provided an assist as Argentina thrashed Croatia 3-0 in the semi final of the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, to book a place in the final slated for Sunday.
The game which started on a cautious note in the first few minute later came to life after Lionel Messi netted from the penalty spot to give Argentina the lead.
While Croatia tried to force their way back into the game, Argentina with a swift counter attack extended their lead to 2-0 thanks to a brilliant goal from Alvarez.
The Croatia who had less efforts to threatened the Argentine goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez were forced to defend once they are not with the ball.
Luka Modric could not orchestrate some of his trickery and intelligent passes that he was known for as he was substituted in the 79th minute.
However, Argentina took the game beyond the reach of Croatia as Alvarez grabbed his brace with a delightful finish.
Argentina will now await the winner between France and Morocco in the final.
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COMMENTS
When Saudi Arabia beat the Argies earlier, I knew the Argies would likely bounce back. They completely dominated the Saudis in that game, and had several goals disallowed. Not taking anything away from the Saudis who played a terrific game, the Argies could have beaten them silly if those goals had been allowed. Now we are seeing the Argies waxing stronger as the tournament progresses. They are now in the final. But the winner of the Morocco vs France showdown will be sure to give them a battle for the cup.
My question is: how come will, determine, hunger and passion didn’t take the Saudis this far?
In my opinion, the Saudis showed all these qualities you mentioned, and they are to be commended for that. However, I believe they won the lottery that day, so to speak. MURPHY’S LAW IN REVERSE, ON STEROIDS. Everything that could go right went incredibly right for them against the Argies, while simultaneously everything that could go wrong went horribly wrong for the Argies.
And then there is the obvious point. All the will, determination, hunger and passion in the world can’t, and won’t be enough when the individual quality of the players and squad depth are not adequate. On the day against the Argies, they played the game of their lives. But they could not maintain that tempo for the duration of the tournament, which is what is required. They simply do not have the capacity to sustain that level of performance consistently. Not at this time.
Two factors gave Argentina the Victory..The coach and the favour of the Referee. That penalty was questionable. The Argentine coach gave so much respect to Croatia hence he adopted a 352 formation when attacking and a 541 when defending. The more tactical side won..
No, it was a penalty.
A player that has shattered records all over the place, a player with overwhelming numbers of Balloon dor amongst other accolades. A player that makes going past makers look easy without drug enhancement like late Maradona, it is only on this page that they’ll call you names when you give him Credits that only him deserves. If a players worst performance can be classified as the brilliant of others then he must be the GOAT. Messi is shoulders above any player that has ever played the Game, anyone who doesn’t like it and have issues with me can continue weep. Well respected Modric talked him down before the semifinals but after the semifinals he confessed Messi as the Greatest of All time. I don’t need any better speaker than those who understands and eat the Game.