Argentina took a two-goal lead after half-time with Messi’s penalty spot (34th minute) after Julian Alvarez was fouled in the box by goalkeeper Livakovic. It was also Alvarez who doubled the gap with the counter-attack, dribbling from the home field to score. In the 69th minute, it was still Alvarez who had his own double, setting a 3-0 victory for the South American representative.
However, before that Messi created the moment of the semi-final. The 35-year-old PSG forward turned and made Gvardiol spin “pinwheel” in one direction and another – more than once – as he dribbled on the right sideline, then entered the box and set up Alvarez for a single finish. simple.
Gvardiol is being evaluated as one of the best central defenders at the 2022 World Cup as well as current European football. He is only 20 years old, playing for Leipzig and many big men are willing to spend large amounts of money to own. According to the media, Man City is leading the race to sign Gvardiol when it is ready to spend $ 105 million.
But after the situation of being defeated by Messi, Gvardiol with a price of 100 million UՏD is becoming a Һot topic on social networks.
Former Arsenal and England right-back, Lee Dixon, says Messi’s abrupt changes of pace were key to opening the gap that the Croatia defenders couldn’t follow as he darted into the box first. when executing the correct tectonic line. “That situation wasn’t just speed, it was slowing down and then accelerating,” said Lee Dixon, “His remarkable speed was amazing.”
Former Rangers player and coach McCoist shows that that tackle explains why Messi is one of the greatest players ever. McCoist exclaimed: “Genius, as simple as that. That explains why he’s one of the best ever.”
On Twitter, some fans humorously said that “Gvardiol’s value was reduced by 30 million after that situation”.
What World Cup records did Messi break in victory over Croatia?
Messi has just played very well to help Argentina ƅeat Croatia in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals. He personally also set a series of historic milestones at the World Cup playground.
Argentina easily defeated Croatia 3-0, thanks to the brilliance of the duo Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez. Messi personally participated directly in 2 of the 3 goals of La Albiceleste in this match.
In particular, the opening goal on the penalty spot helped Messi have 11 goals at World Cups, surpassing the legendary Gabriel Batistuta (10 goals) to become Argentina’s greatest striker in World Cup history. . Today’s goal also helps Messi repeat his own achievement at the 2014 tournament when scoring in 3 consecutive matches.
Currently, he has a total of 11 goals at the World Cup and this year’s tournament alone is 5 goals, equal to Kylian Mbappe’s achievement.
After that, Messi also assisted Julian Alvarez to set a 3-0 victory to catch up with Diego Maradona in the number of passes to clear the field at the World Cup, both with 8 assists.
Thus, Messi has been directly involved in 19 goals in the World Cup, equaling the achievement of 3 legends Miroslav Klose, Ronaldo and Gerd Muller. In addition, Argentina’s No 10 also became the first player to both score and assist in four different matches at the World Cup.
Previously, Messi had caught up with legend Lothar Matthaus in terms of the number of matches played in the World Cup finals. Both have 25 appearances together.