Messi is scored 10
In the 1000th professional match, Messi shined when he kicked the full 90 minutes, touched the ball 75 times, passed with 88% accuracy with 5 decisive lines, finished 6 times, including two on target. At the end of the game, the 35-year-old star also created two clear chances, but substitute striker Lautaro Martinez squandered them.
Messi made the difference with his first shot on target, when he skillfully dribbled into the 16m50 area, then cut his heart across the corner to open the scoring in the 35th minute. This was the 789th goal of his career and the 93rd goal. for Argentina, but this is the first time Messi has opened fire in the knockout stage at the World Cup. He currently has 9 goals in the World Cup, surpassing the achievement of the late Diego Maradona and only one goal behind Gabriel Batistuta.
Messi was honored by FIFA as the Player of the Match for the second time at the 2022 World Cup, after a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the group stage. The Argentine star surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo (7 times) to become the first player in history to have 8 times to be voted best of the match at the World Cup.
In the 80th minute, when Argentina led 2-1, left-back Aziz Behich broke through three players and finished close to the wall, but Lisandro Martinez leaned over to save. In the seventh minute of compensation, the 18-year-old young talent Garang Kuol controlled the ball delicately in the penalty area, then turned to finish. In the face-to-face position, Emiliano Martinez still had time to react and even hugged the ball. Teammates hugged the 30-year-old goalkeeper after this save.
"Messi was the best of the game, but the saves from Lisandro Martinez and Emiliano Martinez were very important in Argentina reaching the quarter-finals," commented Telam. "Messi led Argentina to a well-deserved but arduous victory in the round of 16, and the match ended with two miraculous saves by the Martinez duo."
Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Enzo Fernandez were scored 8, Rodrigo De Paul and Julian Alvarez - who doubled the lead at the start of the second half - received 7 points, Alexis Mac Allister received 6 points, while Nahuel Molina, Alejandro Gomez, Nicolas Tagliafico received points. point 5.
Telam rated Lautaro Martinez the worst, with 4 points, even though he only substituted for Julian Alvarez from the 71st minute. In the 89th minute, from the counter-attack, Messi took the ball to attract a series of Australian players, then passed it to Lautaro in an empty position. . But the striker of Inter put his heart over the bar. Less than five minutes later, Lautaro squandered a similar opportunity when he received the ball from Messi and then shot straight into the position of goalkeeper Ryan.
"Lautaro continues to have a bad day," commented Telam. "He had two chances to widen the gap at the end of the game and regain his confidence. But Lautaro finished badly in the first, and was saved by the Australian goalkeeper in the second."
Exequiel Palacios and Gonzalo Montiel were two players who were not scored when they came on to replace MacAllister and Molina from the 80th minute, respectively.
In the quarter-finals on December 9 at Lusail Stadium, Argentina met the Netherlands - the team that defeated Australia 3-1 in the previous match a few hours ago.
