The extraordinary is the ordinary for Lionel Andrés Messi, 35. With Argentina getting closer to entering despair mode, he changed his position, put the game under his arm and brought his team closer to qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar .
Isolated, far ahead and almost without being used in the first 45 minutes, he dropped back after the break. With the ball passing more by his foot, Argentina dominated the match, but could not score. An individual bid was needed.
Messi started from the middle at 19 of the second half. He kicked cross and low from the edge of the area. The Argentines in the Lusail stadium, this Saturday (26), exploded in a collective roar of relief and happiness. It was the moment when victory became possible. The final score was 2-0 over Mexico, in Group C of the World Cup.
This means that, in the last round, Argentina will be first in the group if they beat Poland, depending on the result of Saudi Arabia against the Mexicans. It can even qualify second with a draw, also dependent on the combination of scores and goals scored by the other teams.
Messi prevented his team from returning to the destructive mode of the Jorge Sampaoli era, which ended with the failure in the World Cup in Russia, in 2018. A tournament marked by constant changes in the lineup and the coach’s confusing tactics. It had been like that again this year, in the opening defeat to Saudi Arabia.
Scaloni had said that Argentina, despite the setback, would keep its way of playing this Saturday. It was with this scheme that she had remained undefeated for 36 games. But Messi didn’t see the color of the ball. It was only by giving up this that the team improved and managed to reach the result. Because Messi without the ball is like taking the piano away from Beethoven, leaving Paulinho without the guitar, preventing Gardel from singing.
When he had the ball, Argentina won.
Mexico was the ideal opponent for the South Americans at a decisive moment. Every time the team has faced this same rival in important World Cup matches, it has won. It was like this in the round of 16 in 2006 and 2010.
Lionel Scaloni took a risk in the lineup. He kept the game, movement and ball possession scheme, but changed almost half of the starters in relation to the defeat in the debut against Saudi Arabia. There were five changes, all from midfield to the back. Full-backs Montiel and Acuña, defender Lisandro Martínez and midfielders Guido Paredes and Alexis MacAllister entered.
The coach resolved this by only sending to the field those who were in 100% physical condition. He thought that players like Cuti Romero, easily dribbled in the first Saudi goal, could not continue.
Messi, of course, has been kept in 11, even if his right ankle problem has not been fully explained. There was external distrust, but not from the coaching staff. If the playmaker didn’t appear much in the first half, the opposite happened with Ángel Di María, more comfortable with the freedom he received to change his position on the field. At the rear, the changes worked, especially the entry of Guido Paredes.
Mexico knew it could exploit its rival’s desperation the more time passed. Little was exposed and its main offensive piece, Lozano, as well as Messi, was seen little on the field until the break.
On the bench, they had the Argentine Tata Martino. He, who saw Lionel’s first goodbye from the national team, after the defeat in the 2016 Copa América final. He was the coach of the South American national team and, shortly thereafter, he left office without receiving six months of wages.
The duel between the fans in the tribunes of the Lusail stadium was more interesting than the first 45 minutes on the field, in an atmosphere that resembled a decisive confrontation of Libertadores.
Mexico continued at the same pace in the final stage and were left without an answer when Messi opened the scoring. And there was still time for Enzo Fernández, one of Scaloni’s replacements for the second round, to seal the victory in the 42nd minute with a great goal.
Argentina flirted with danger. But when he gave the ball to Lionel Messi, the greatest soloist in world football, everything was resolved.
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