Poland 0-2 Argentina: Messi saw a lucky penalty stopped, before Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez secured their team the most sensitive spot in Group C of the World Cup.
Find your favorites in your Premium Independent section, my profile
On a night when a resurgent Argentina may have a confusing task, the only difficulty is the math beneath them and watching this team from Poland.
It is rare for a player to have qualified for the knockout stages in such an unattractive way.
Lionel Messi even missed a penalty, but Poland were still beaten with ease, relying on a 2-0 defeat to get the ridiculously narrow maximum margin.
That was the definition of anti-football, until the moment when the position was almost through yellow cards before a defeated goal by Saudi Arabia against Mexico.
What does Robert Lewandowski do to you, and yet you will see the full value of this defeat. He’s still in this World Cup. Messi too. It was never close to being his last World Cup match at the end.
Winning the organization was a formality for Argentina, and can still be influential in winning this trophy. It may sound as receptive as this Argentine team, but one transformation was undeniably visible.
There is also a significant upgrade on your own trip. That win meant that, rather than an update of the last 16 games with France, Argentina would get a relatively more lenient adjustment compared to Australia. In fact, they will enter it without any of the nerves we saw before this victory. It was more as if Messi’s purpose against Mexico gave them something, revived their conviction.
It can be especially noticeable in the trained ball of Nahuel Molina for the first goal of Alexis Mac Allister, then in the sensational touch of Julián Álvarez and the end for the rivet. Through it all, and even after what could have been another great missed shot in his career. , Messi directing everything.
Argentina returned to the symbol of the selection that had made this long invincibility before this World Cup: controlled, with a traditionally intelligent midfielder, but also with an outdated aggressiveness that accentuates its qualities and makes it even more difficult to achieve.
Lionel Messi won and then executed a questionable penalty, which Wojciech Szczesny stopped
It was Poland who looked nervous and, to be honest, pitiful here, and they just couldn’t get close to Argentina’s goal. Instead, they gathered the entire team, except Robert Lewandowski, around Wojciech Szczesny’s goal, and hoped for the best. .
There was a moment when the ball fell to the striker, only for Nicolas Otamendi to be abrasively transparent because Lewandowski had no one to give it to.
This meant that Argentina kept coming, with the flow of the game going in one direction. This would eventually lead to incidents and breakthroughs.
Alvarez had a faded effort after Szczesny’s defeat. A maximum stop landed for Oscar De Paul. Then came the most debatable moment of the game, when the goalkeeper considered having hit Messi when he arrived to get a cross.
It just didn’t look like a penalty. However, it felt like setting up anything everyone in the stadium could see coming.
Everyone would have noticed it before, after all. Messi hit the ball exactly as he did on the non-unusual big penalties, which were in the middle and to the left of the goalkeeper. Szczesny knew which direction he was going in and received a strong hand.
He can simply say that justice was served, which almost underscores the way everyone proceeded with him as if nothing had happened. The game continued in exactly the same pattern. Even Messi seemed unperturbed.
It will not be one of those moments in which Argentina delayed and made them feel that everything was going against them.
They kept going, Molina drove one of those balls and Mac Allister had enough to pass Szczesny.
Alexis Mac Allister celebrates Argentina’s first goal against Poland
The final results of the lace at that inevitable moment. It would never be more than a victory for Argentina. The big suspense, however, revolved around the scoreboard and whether there would be enough swing in either game to oust Poland.
The European aspect seemed almost totally detached from looking at this in itself. They tried to protect what they had from the beginning, which was cowardly in the sense of football but also a huge threat given what Mexico was doing to Saudi Arabia.
So that’s what Argentina is doing to them. Messi kept coming. He seemed to jump every time Argentina advanced.
The ball eventually passed to Alvarez for a great goal. The ceiling was raised in some other stadium full of Argentine fans. Poland was still looking to weigh everything down.
It is true that there is an impressive distrust and resilience at the moment. Szczesny, who has done tribute to himself, stopped Messi to keep Poland in the World Cup.
Julián Álvarez is followed after doubling Argentina’s lead
When the goalkeeper was still outplayed by a sumptuous clip from Nicolas Tagliafico, Jakub Kiwior cleared the line again.
It may have only been one of the greatest touches in the history of fashionable Polish football. He has just arrived in the middle of one of the most pitiful performances.
They will care about this as much as Messi his missed penalty. That whole issue is what’s next. Poland has France, which is perhaps another form of justice for this. Argentina has Australia, and a completely different perspective.
Lionel Messi won and then executed a questionable penalty, which Wojciech Szczesny stopped
fake images
Alexis Mac Allister celebrates Argentina’s first goal against Poland
Pennsylvania
Julian Alvarez followed after doubling Argentina’s lead
Reuters
Want to bookmark your favorite articles and stories to read or refer to later?Start your Independent Premium club today.