Lionel Messi played for survival – Sport – Kommersant
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The Argentina national team won the first and very important victory in the World Cup. Lionel Messi’s team, which started the tournament with a defeat from Saudi Arabia, was on the verge of failure and could lose their chances of reaching the playoffs ahead of schedule if they lost to Mexico. But the Argentines pulled themselves together and won 2-0, with Messi scoring and providing an assist.
In front of the Argentine national team, which was going to Qatar to fight for the championship title, the sad prospect of not leaving the group at all suddenly loomed. After a sensational and discouraging fiasco at the start, the defeat by Mexico, and the likelihood of such an outcome was much higher than in match with the nominal outsider Saudi Arabia, already meant the collapse of all hopes of the main Argentine star Lionel Messi to win the coveted trophy at the end of his career. In fact, for him personally, the confrontation with the Mexicans became in the literal, and not figurative sense, the match of life. And, of course, the football world was waiting for how he would hold it.
Argentine mentor Lionel Scaloni, of course, put Messi in the starting lineup. Although he, like the team as a whole, failed the game with the Saudis, not a single specialist would have dared to put such a legend and a living monument in reserve.
But in other positions, the rotation suggested itself, and Scaloni made five changes, redrawing almost the entire line of defense. At the same time, another veteran, Angel Di Maria, turned out to be untouchable in the attack group. Scaloni also believed in striker Lautaro Martinez.
It is curious that their compatriot got in the way of the Argentines in the playoffs. Gerardo Martino in the recent past, “three coaches ago”, and he led the blue and white, twice in a row brought them to the America’s Cup final, where both times luck turned away from him and his wards were inferior on penalties to the Chileans. Since 2019, Martino has been working with the Mexicans and now promised to do, in his words, “everything possible and impossible” to win. He also corrected the composition, which returned the record holder for matches for the Mexican national team Andres Guardado. The 36-year-old midfielder entered the field for the 179th time in a national team shirt, thus taking part in the fifth World Cup.
Martino first of all strengthened the center of defense and the support zone, offering his colleague Scaloni a viscous, closed, uncomfortable football. And it was probably the best option. The Mexicans are not so good in attack, so in the first match against Poland they did not show anything interesting ahead. But they are very good at drying up the opponent’s game, and if there is some kind of force majeure, then the unfading, 37-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, for whom this is also the fifth world championship, will help out. Actually, for a draw with the Poles, the partners should be grateful to him, because he reflected the penalty in the performance of Robert Lewandowski himself.
Wards Martino so dried up the Argentina national team that in the first minutes she did not even know how to approach the gates of Ochoa. Moreover, they imposed such pressure on her that, under its weight, she herself rolled back a little.
In addition, due to the abundance of joints and small fouls, the match was split into short segments, which was also beneficial for the Mexicans. Messi mostly walked around the field without the ball, and when he sometimes met with him, he immediately felt the breath of a guardian, or even two. The teams got so carried away with wrestling that they forgot about football altogether. More precisely, they simply prevented each other from playing.
The only thing they could squeeze any dangerous moment out of was the standards. But they also ended in vain. Messi tried to spin the ball around Ochoa’s collar from the right side, and he calmly caught it. The Mexicans at the end of the first half earned a better free kick – at least in front of the gate. Ernesto Vega circled the wall and hit the target, but the goalkeeper of the Argentines Emiliano Martinez had no right to miss from such a long distance and parried the blow in a spectacular jump to the audience. The audience did not see anything spectacular. Is that Marcos Acuña before the whistle for a break slightly tickled the nerves of the Mexican defenders, who, however, blocked his cross.
Even before the break, the most experienced Guardado was replaced by the Mexican national team. However, this loss was painlessly compensated by Eric Gutierrez from the Dutch PSV, especially since he is nine years younger and physically stronger. And yet, in the debut of the second half, Messi eluded Gutierrez, forcing him to foul close to the penalty area. Of course, Messi himself undertook to beat, but in vain the Argentine fans froze in anticipation. The magic left leg failed the master. Then, it seems, they managed to aggravate Di Maria on the right edge, and his transmission did not reach the addressee. Nevertheless, the advantage of the Argentines became more and more distinct.
And in the 64th minute, after a pause caused by a double substitution of Scaloni, which seemed to only knock the teams out of the rhythm of the game again, the Mexicans made an unforgivable mistake and left Messi alone.
True, it should be noted that he was standing somewhere on the outskirts, on the sidelines and did not pose a threat, but as soon as he received the ball, he earned it with one touch and planted it in the bottom corner with a blow that spread along the grass. There were more than 20 meters to the gate, and it was by no means a scoring chance, but Messi turned it into a goal. As they say, scored from nothing.
Taking the lead, the Argentina national team clung to the result with their hands, feet and teeth. She threw her main forces on the defensive and still did not give up harassing counterattacks. As a result, in the 87th minute, at a corner, the Argentines tied a simple combination in a narrow space to the left of the Mexican penalty area, Messi briefly played along with Enzo Fernandez, who also ventured to strike from an unobvious position and sent the ball into the far upper corner in an arc inaccessible to the jumping Ochoa. Fernandez scored not only from a pass, but also in the style of Messi.
This goal sealed a 2-0 victory for the Argentines, who moved up to second place in Group C with three points. Saudi Arabia, who are lower due to the worst goal difference, have the same number of points. But before the third round, all the teams here retain the chances of reaching the playoffs, including the Mexicans, who are in last place with one point. And the same Argentina, which has now receded from the dangerous line, has yet to fight for a ticket to the 1/8 finals with Poland.
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