Last Updated on 12/15/2022 by てんしょく飯
On December 13, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the semifinals of the Qatar World Cup to advance to their first final since Brazil 2014.
The 35-year-old Lionel Messi, Argentina’s ace, was again the standout performer in the match.
On a penalty kick in the 34th minute after Julian Alvarez was brought down, Messi avoided a dangerous run against goalkeeper Dominik Rybakovic, who has made his name by stopping four penalties in this tournament, and hit a powerful shot high beyond the reach of his defense to score the first goal, putting him in a tie with his Paris Saint-Germain colleague He moved to the top of the tournament scoring charts with five goals, tied with Paris Saint-Germain colleague Kylian Mbappe.
In the 69th minute, he received the ball near the halfway line, dribbled down the right flank, and, despite being closely marked by highly regarded CB Joschko Gbardiol, made a sharp turn and feint near the goal line to break through into the penalty area and set up Alvarez’s He then set up Alvarez’s goal to put the game out of reach, and his three assists put him at the top of the table.
After losing to Saudi Arabia in their first group stage match and facing the threat of early elimination in the following match against Mexico due to a stalled attack, the South American heroes suddenly underwent a remarkable transformation, playing soccer that lived up to their pre-tournament reputation as the top contenders, and becoming the sixth team in the history of the national team to be named world finalists for the third time. As finalists, they were on the verge of their third world championship.
Needless to say, Messi was at the center of this success. When he was gunned down in the round of 16 in the last tournament in Russia by the up-and-coming Mbappe’s France, it was a strong reminder of the generational change in the national team, and it seemed that his career would end with no national team title in sight. He seems to have reached the peak of his career at the age of 35.
The British daily newspaper “Independent” was full of praise for Messi, who is a man of mind, technique, and spirit, but it also focused on his teammates who support him. The other 10 players, they reported, “took on the responsibility of not ruining the career of the greatest soccer player of all time and played a supporting cast in the biggest game of his life.
The media outlet sarcastically noted that “Messi was able to reach the final 16 years after his first World Cup challenge, thanks in part to the other 10 players.
The other stars include goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who made a good save in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, Alvarez, who made a decisive and destructive impact against Croatia, and Enso Fernandez, who broke out during the tournament…. .”
The media mentioned the contributions of each player, but especially Alvarez, “He came into the World Cup with three goals for the national team and scored two goals in the semifinals (he has four goals total in this tournament). Perhaps only in the later years of his career did Messi find the Jorge Valdano to Diego Maradona,” he said, citing the legendary names in Argentine soccer history to emphasize their greatness.
The media was also impressed by the fact that Argentina has lost only one of its last 43 games and is on the verge of winning a big title with one more game to go, despite the fact that the team does not have as many players from big European clubs as in the past and appears to be a mediocre bunch at first glance.
They have had more brilliant talents in the past, such as Gonzalo Iguain, Sergio Aguero, and Carlos Tevez, who scored a total of more than 1,000 goals for their clubs, but successive Argentine managers have struggled to find the right combination of players. Again in this tournament, Lautaro Martinez and Paulo Dybala have a better track record than Alvarez and others, but the former was out of position due to a series of missed opportunities, and the latter was not used until the 74th minute against Croatia.
In contrast to South Africa 2010, where midfielder Javier Mascherano was isolated, this time Lionel Scaroni had four midfielders with defensive ability, and against Croatia he had a quartet of them surrounding and holding back Luka Modric. It was like a Serie A team from the 1980s, with responsibilities strictly divided.”
Such a team structure is similar to that of the 1986 Mexico tournament, which they won for the second time. The media reported, “In 1986, coach Carlos Villalardo played a ‘3-5-Maradona-1’ formation, and this time Scaroni opted for a ‘4-4-1-Messi’ formation (shifting to five at the back when defending). He commented that “this is to take advantage of one player and not a democratic one,” but that as a result, both were able to take advantage of both their star players and the team as a whole.
The media pointed out that although the mid-1990s and early 2000s had more talented stars than today and 1986, the absence of Maradona and Messi there was the reason for the loss, and that Messi’s strength for the final, as well as the help of “the other 10” there, was essential The media outlet claims that Messi’s strength in the final, as well as the help of “the other 10” was essential.
In 1986, Maradona produced all of the team’s goals in the quarterfinals against England and the semifinals against Belgium, but in the final against then-West Germany, defender Jose Luis Brown, midfielder Valdano, and midfielder Jorge Burciaga used him as bait. How will Messi take advantage of his offensive and defensive teammates on December 18, and will he be taken advantage of by them?
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