Messi helps Argentina reach the World Cup final
Before the semi-final, Josko Gvardiol was considered by many as the best centre-back in the World Cup. But when confronting Lionel Messi in the 69th minute, the Croatian midfielder was defeated three times on the right, before losing his breath watching the Argentine superstar go into the penalty area and pass it to Julian Alvarez to seal a 3-0 victory. Gvardiol is only 20 years old and Messi is 35 years old. Their age was turned upside down in the tournament's iconic assist. While Messi is like a confident, arrogant and ambitious young man, Gvardiol is helpless to despair when he has to confront the owner of seven Golden Balls.
The ball is like a summary of the whole game. Croatia did not show the same intense fighting strength and core filtering as the previous two knockout rounds, where they played more than 120 minutes per match. On the Argentine side, Messi shines again, and his teammates also play bravely with the determination to help the 35-year-old superstar win what he deserves: the World Cup.
For the third time at Qatar 2022, Messi both scored and assisted in a match. England set a record four times to do this in World Cup history. Before the tournament, Messi had never scored in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. But in just over a week, he scored in the 1/8 round against Australia, the quarter-final against the Netherlands and the semi-final against Croatia. The penalty kick opened the scoring to help Messi set the record for most goals for Argentina at the World Cup (11 goals). He has five goals and four assists, contributing to 75% of Argentina's goals in the tournament.
Not only Messi, Argentina has another hero in this match. Julian Alvarez, a Messi fan since childhood, scored twice in the day alongside his idol in attack. The 22-year-old striker also brought back a penalty for Messi to open the scoring, when he escaped, goalkeeper Livakovic had to foul in the penalty area in the face-to-face phase.
Before Messi beat Livakovic from a distance of 11 meters, Croatia was the better team. The mobility of midfield gives them a lot of control over the ball. Modric is active all over the field, while Messi almost only walks in the first half hour of the game. But after the end of the first half, Croatia was stunned. They received two consecutive goals from the 34th to the 39th minute, both from situations with Alvarez's shoes. At the scoring table, the Man City striker rushed from the middle of the field, took advantage of the mistake of breaking the ball missed by both Juranovic and Borna Sosa, finishing close to defeat Livakovic.
For the first time, Croatia failed to score in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. Their morale was low after two consecutive goals, and it bottomed out after Messi's classic assist. Gvardiol was clingy and tried to chase his senior after being fooled, but the 20-year-old midfielder surrendered in Messi's decisive shake. Alvarez, the only Man City player remaining in the 2022 World Cup, easily cushioned the ball into an almost empty goal to score the fourth goal of the tournament.
Argentina still has more chances to win, but 3-0 is enough for Messi and his teammates. Lusail Stadium witnessed Lionel Scaloni's teachers and students being knocked down by Saudi Arabia on the opening day, but it was also the place where Argentina performed beautiful football for the sixth time in the World Cup final. The somewhat ugly image of the match against the Netherlands was left behind. And it is also at Lusail that Messi can reach what he most craves for the rest of his career, when Argentina meet France or Morocco in the final.
