Messi fired in the opening goal before setting up Enzo Fernandez's late strike to keep his country's World Cup hopes alive
Diego Maradona single-handedly dragged Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and the expectation, fairly or otherwise, of his natural heir in the sky blue and white stripes is that he do the same. If the South Americans do go on to end their 36-year wait to win this competition, Messi’s 64th-minute strike against Mexico will be pinpointed as a critical turning point. He now has eight World Cup goals, as many as El Diego.
Do not worry if you’ve missed the goal; you will have seen it hundreds of times before anyway. Receiving a square pass on the edge of the area, Messi took one touch to set himself before rifling a shot into the bottom corner. Not even Mr World Cup, Guillermo Ochoa could stop it. It was textbook Messi and the first moment of finesse in a match that had been defined by unadulterated chaos.
He added an assist for good measure too, although it was not the type of Messi pass that will make any techno-soundtracked YouTube compilations. He played a simple ball to the substitute Enzo Fernandez who curled a stunning effort into the roof of the net to double Argentina’s advantage and take the game away from Mexico. As the final whistle sounded, Messi was mobbed by his grateful teammates. Not for the first time, he was the difference.
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