Argentina and the trick to occupy the space in the 2022 World Cup

* Argentina - France: 10pm Sunday, December 18, on MetaSports.

A good example is their semi-final victory over Croatia, at Lusail Stadium on December 13.

Not many events take place during the first 30 minutes. But then the South American representative suddenly scored twice in five minutes. The difference lies in that: few teams are able to exploit the opponent's back line as well as Argentina.

The match took place with the tactics common in this World Cup. The two teams minimized the distance between the lines, but accepted space under the defense and above the midfield.

Croatia uses a 4-3-3 system, but sometimes turns into a 4-4-2 with Luka Modric rising as the striker.

So does Argentina. Instead of starting with the same 5-3-2 system as the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, coach Lionel Scaloni switched to 4-4-2 to do the same against the Croatians. Messi is sometimes more like a striker than a number 10. When Julian Alvarez is low to accompany Marcelo Brozovic, with only Messi above, moving freely.

At this point, Messi is not defensive. As shown below, Messi seems to have a bit of a problem so he stands still, not moving while Alvarez is deep in defense like a central midfielder. The two Argentinian wings are also bundled into the center to play as central midfielders.

This move countered Croatia effectively. The European representative holds the ball well but lacks mutations. Argentina is planning something with this kick.

A card emerged early in the game: right-back Nahuel Molina moved with right-sided central midfielder Rodrigo De Paul to create a combination that hit the space behind the Croatian defence.

A minute later, De Paul again poured the ball for left-back Nicolas Tagliafico when the opponent's system was narrow to close the central area. The situation failed because goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic intervened, but signaled the main way of kicking the South American team in this match.

The next minutes were a succession of balls with similar intentions. Leandro Paredes pours the ball to Monina on the right. Enzo Fernandez poked a slot for Tagliafico on the left. Then there was an interesting situation when Fernandez had the ball and Molina asked for the ball on the right. But Fernandez did not pass to Molina in a more open position, choosing to give the ball to Messi, who was being marked by Dejan Lovren, who was then unable to receive the pass. It showed that Argentina prioritized attacking the gap between positions and hitting Croatia directly, with passes into the back line.

The plan to use the Alvarez - Messi pair to harass Croatia's middle was really clear after about 20 minutes of rolling the ball. In the 21st minute, Messi moved from an offside position to the top to receive the ball, making the Croatian defense for the first time in the match lacked synchronization. Thanks to Messi's charm, Alvarez was free to run and cut Lovren's face without anyone following, creating conditions for Messi to confront Gvardiol.

Minutes later, the same scenario happened. Messi was about 20 meters behind Alvarez, continuing to go along to harass the opponent. Lovren dropped deep, while Gvardiol was pulled up to follow Messi and the gap between the duo was clear.

Finally, one of Alvarez's moves came into play. Nicolas Otamendi had the ball and intended to pass it to Fernandez in the center but then poked a slot for Alexis Mac Allister on the left. Once again Lovren was pinned deep by Alvarez in defence, while Gvardiol moved forward to trap for offside, the premise for Livakovic to foul Alvarez in the box, leading to a penalty that Messi successfully kicked.

The second goal was a counter-attack after Croatia's corner. The situation has two notable points. First, three Argentine players can come forward. But two of them stop. Only one winger, Molina, was left with a quick pace that distracted the Croatia defenders and gave Alvarez space to penetrate. This is the second interesting point. Alvarez is the rare striker in this tournament to do the job of a classic striker and move directly into the opponent's defence.

The match was then closed with a dribble that tormented Messi's Gvardiol. The finish is from Alvarez. This goal can be the most memorable of Messi – Alvarez career if Argentina is crowned in this tournament. It was the result of an evening when the Scaloni-led team tortured the opposition's defense with balls aimed at the back of the defence.

Messi is of course the most remarkable detail of Argentina in the whole tournament. But Scaloni's flexible and flexible tactics against each opponent is a necessary condition for Messi to shine.

Before France today, according to Argentine media, Scaloni let Argentina prepare a 5-3-2 plan to contain Mbappe. But the scariest thing that the South American representative showed in Qatar this time was the flexible improvisation of tactics to adapt to each opponent and situation. The passes behind the opponent's back line, the ability to stretch the defense of the Messi - Alvarez pair is still a powerful weapon for Argentina to turn France into the next and final victim on their journey in the World. Cup 2022.