Argentina convincingly progressed to their sixth World Cup final in history when they defeated Croatia 3–0 in the World Cup semi-final. The guarantors of the victory are a familiar duo: again the record breakers Lionel Messi and playing a huge World Cup tournament Julian Alvarez22.
The 35-year-old Argentinian captain set up two of Alvarez’s goals and scored one himself from the penalty kick.
Sports expert Jonne Kunnasen according to the game, the game was initially dominated by Croatia as an underdog, but Argentina’s 1–0 lead changed the picture of the match completely.
– Before the goal, the game was completely under Croatia’s control. Croatia kept the ball, and Argentina couldn’t take advantage. Of course, Croatia couldn’t do anything more dangerous, but the plan was to defend with ball control, Kunnas started.
At half an hour, however, the parts changed, when Messi surely hit the ball into the net from 11 meters.
– Croatia had to increase the risk levels, which opened space for Messi and Alvarez to get up and attack.
In the whole match, Argentina only had 39.1 percent of the ball. Croatia took the shots 12–9, but Argentina scored 7–2.
“Strange goal”
Croatia’s defense as its last lock Dominik Livakovic has collected praise throughout the Games. In the opening group, only one goal was scored behind Croatia, and even Brazil and Japan only managed to score once against Croatia.
Goalkeeper Livakovic should not be blamed for the semi-final loss, but the actions of the Croatian defenders surprised Kunna.
– At first, everyone had the players under control, but then Argentina found Croatia through a wrong choice to go forward. Players start tracking different things. The bottom defender dribbles, but the other two don’t. They don’t play in the dark and control is lost, you can’t play offside. The top players have no idea who controls Alvarez, Kunnas opens up.
– In the past, Croatia has defended closely, and there hasn’t been much space to pass. The line has worked. I think the goal was strange because in these games Croatia has not had such problems.
You can watch the situation that led to Argentina’s penalty kick and the lead goal from a tactical angle from the main picture of the story.
Not everyone appreciated the penalty awarded for the situation. The game tool had already escaped from Alvarez when he collided with goalkeeper Livakovic.
– I’m not a referee expert, but the goalkeeper is coming, Alvarez tries to finish before they collide. The goalkeeper breaks, but it should matter that the ball has already been played out, Kunnas spins.
Croatia’s defense did not survive the 2–0 goal with clean sheets either, which came just five minutes after the opening goal.
– The goal came from Croatia’s corner. Messi doesn’t even have to pass, just a small touch is enough for Alvarez to attack the big space. Croatia defends the end really badly – I really have no words for that. They had two places to dismantle, they weren’t used, Kunnas snorts.
Argentina’s third hit, on the other hand, was pure Messi skill.
– The situation started with a throw-in in the middle area, a relatively harmless situation, where Messi’s magic began. He showed again why Messi is Messi.
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The ball was finished into the net by none other than Julian Alvarez. The hit was Alvarez’s fourth of the tournament. Messi and Alvarez have scored or assisted in 11 of Argentina’s 12 goals.
– He has formed a radar pair with Messi, which has taken Argentina to the final. In the first two games of the World Cup, he did not even start, but has taken the place of the number one striker during the games. He brings a threat from his back, knows how to finish in the box with quality and brings a lot to the team. Compared to his playing minutes, he produces impressive results, praises Kunnas.
Alvarez has scored seven goals after playing just eight times in Argentina’s starting line-up.
Messi, the seventh-best player in the world, will next celebrate his 36th birthday, but he doesn’t seem to be getting old on the field – in fact, the Argentina captain has scored more goals in the national team shirt this year than ever before, 16 hits in total. The previous record is from 2012, when Messi scored 12 times.
With his eleventh goal of the World Cup, Messi became Argentina’s all-time best scorer in the World Cup. He has completed 11 World Cup goals, ten hits behind Gabriel Batistuta.
At the weekend, Messi will most likely make history, as the World Cup final will be Messi’s 26th World Cup match of his career. Already in the semifinals, Messi took the shared top spot on the list of players who have played the most World Cup matches, as only Germany’s Lothar Matthäus has played 25 matches at the World Cup level.
– For a normal top player, we talk about the best playing years (peak age), but for Messi, it seems that there is no such definition. His role has changed over the years, he was initially a pure winger, but he has constantly moved to the center of the field, able to adapt and produce power with continuous passing, Kunnas begins.
– For many aging players, there is talk of slowing down, but when you look at Messi, you don’t get that feeling. Age doesn’t show, Messi does stupid things practically every season.
On Sunday, the captain will lead his team to fight for the third world championship in Argentina’s history. Argentina’s opponent in the World Cup final will be France-Morocco from Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.