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| Influenced by Lionel Messi, Argentina defeated Croatia in the semi final of the World Cup 2022 |
For Lionel Messi, the crown is a sign of greatness. As Argentina set their sights on a third World Cup victory, their leader was impossible to ignore. It shouldn't just be about that. There were other stars in the blue and white stripes, most notably Julian Alvarez. But when Messi plays like this and with the power of the narrative around him, it can certainly feel that way.
Messi was irreplaceable, great. He set Argentina up with a coolly converted penalty - his fifth goal of the tournament, leveling him with France's Kylian Mbappé in the race for the Golden Boot - and was involved in Alvarez's killer second. .
But Messi ensured he provided a lasting memory, saving his jaw-dropping moment for midway through the second half to end any notion of a Croatian comeback. A help that came from a higher plane.
He picked the ball up flush from the right and surged past Josco Guardiola, his pace at his 35-year-old age. He slowed down and went again but Guardiol, one of the best defenders of the tournament, will be fine. So Messi checked, back to his opponent. He had to find another way.
And so he dropped his right shoulder and swung left, flicking the ball around Guardiola with his left boot, almost teasing him, but never letting him get close. Messi pounced on and along the byline before pulling back for Alvarez, who did the rest. Guardiol was powerless.
Some of the numbers are relevant because they seem to track Messi's every breath. It was his record 25th World Cup tie and his 11th goal in the competition was an Argentina record. His assists gave him eight at the World Cup – equal with Diego Maradona. But it is what Maradona did in the 1986 tournament that Messi wants to emulate.
Messi has done it all. Eleven league titles. Four Champions Leagues. Copa America. Seven Ballon d'Ar. He has so far scored 791 career goals, 96 of them for Argentina. The World Cup, though, is the CV gap that burns. Could it finally be his time?
Croatia remain on the brink, close to exiting the group stage; Caught a comeback to beat Japan and Brazil on penalties in the knockout round. The 2018 finalists have routinely gone to extra time and beyond. They never know when they are killed. This country of 3.9 million people has repeatedly defied the odds. . . But not here.
It was Argentina's sixth World Cup semi-final and they are yet to lose one. Once Alvarez had scored his first goal, it looked like a huge ask for Croatia and a sign of their crumbling resistance came on 81 minutes when Zlatko Dilić replaced the talismanic Luka Modric. Lee. This was not his night.
Lionel Scaloni could manage to rally a raucous crowd of Argentina fans behind a goal after full-time and the manager was able to consider tweaking his tactics. He went with a tight but flexible 4-4-2, encouraging the full-backs to push high and wide. It provided the platform for Messi to move around, with his teammates filling the space around him, and also leaving runners behind, especially Alvarez. Croatia suffocated, their whole back dropped.
It was a rare loose touch from Modric that the Argentine seized to break the contest open, sending Enzo Fernández Álvarez racing away from Dejan Lovren. It was shocking to see how much space Alvarez had and, although he couldn't finish, Lovren was coming back to clean up his chip, only to be stopped by the goalkeeper, Dominik Levakovic, who played the ball in. No effort was made. Messi was never going to miss this spot.
Croatia needed a corner from their last move when Ivan Perisic's shot seemed to take a limb from Argentina. He was angry when he was sentenced. Assistant coach Mario Mandzukic was shown a red card.
A 1-0 deficit is no problem for Croatia. They had conceded first in each of their previous knockout games at this World Cup and the last. They would win on every occasion – apart from the final against France. But 2-0 was more trouble.
What a terrible goal it was for Croatia to be caught on another quick transition after clearing an Argentina corner. Messi got there before Marcelo Brozovic and, when Alvarez won possession just before halfway, he simply bulldozed over.
Decoy runs from Rodrigo De Paul and Nahuel Molina helped and, when Álvarez dropped his shoulder on the edge of the area, he got a break from Josip Juranovic. Borna-Sosa couldn't adjust his feet, missed an attempted clearance and Alvarez enjoyed a close-range conversion.
Messi wreaks havoc, the killer pass lives on forever. At 2-0 he really began to enjoy himself, reeling from the stickiness of his touch, the savage sophistication of his turns. Argentina almost scored again before the break, Alexis McAllister teeing up Levakovic with a free header from a corner. The rebound nearly eluded Juranovic. McAllister would go close in fourth for Argentina late on.
Delek went for the break early in the second half, switching to a 4-4-2, introducing Mislav Orsic on the left and Bruno Petkovic as a second striker. But Croatia would make few clear notes and were in danger of a break. Messi almost got in as he exchanged passes with Fernandez. The scene was set for his final splash of magic.
