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LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi and Argentina are living on Fight Day.
In a tournament where it is transparent that a week of preparation was not enough for some of the favorites for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the level of organization has a case of survival and advancement.
As Canada’s national soccer groups head into their respective FIFA World Cups, Derek Van Diest is on hand to cover all the action. Expect qualified data and research in your daily and weekly tournament inbox on Thursdays for the rest of the season.
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The longer the more productive groups can stay in the tournament, the more team spirit they will create, and facing the match against Mexico here in front of 88,966 at Lusail Stadium, Argentina faced a surprising exit from the tournament after only two Games. .
But Messi, as he has done for more than two decades, stored his team with a goal in the 64th minute and Enzo Fernandez added a moment in the 87th in a 2-0 victory.
“It’s a difficult game, after getting the result they gave us in the first game, wasting everything we didn’t expect, and actually the days had been long and we were on the hunt for the opportunity to reposition the situation,” he said. Messi, who was named best man of the match. ” We knew it was a vital game, because if we didn’t win, we were finished. But we knew that if we won today we would be back in a comfortable position and everything would be in order. “our hands again.
“Fortunately we had to win the game and we are satisfied because that calms things down a bit, because we are masters of our destiny. “
Just before Messi’s eighth World Cup goal, Argentina struggled to find some sort of rhythm in their game as Mexico continued to break attacks, quite and sometimes not so much.
A shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia at the same stadium in their first match put Argentina in front of the wall. It’s Argentina’s biggest unexpected defeat since it squandered the opening match of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. This team, along with Diego Maradona, recovered and reached the final before wasting against West Germany.
However, in a 24-team tournament at the time, it was less difficult to succeed in the knockout stages. Saudi Arabia before. During the day, things are confusing.
With this victory, Argentina prepares well for its last match against Poland, where it will qualify for the knockout stages with a victory.
“In the part of the moment, we approached the game differently, we approached it more aggressively, but it was complicated to play the game, because they were playing with five defenders and 4 midfielders and essentially without a striker,” said Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni. “They put us under pressure and they were playing their game. We saw it in the moment and made an adjustment at halftime and started playing better in the moment.
Argentina has yet to look like a contender, but the same can be said for Germany, which lost its first match to Japan, and England, which looked selflessly against the United States on Friday after opening with a resounding 6-2 victory over Iran.
It took Argentina around an hour to settle on their game, and after all, they found a way to string together a passing setup before Messi was picked in the most sensitive part of the penalty area. The left-handed genius made an inch of area. and he slid the ball just inside into the far corner in front of the outstretched arm of Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
A thumb in either direction, and Ochoa sticks a piece, or hits the post. What shooting accuracy.
“I don’t think we gave him much area today,” Mexico coach Gerardo Martino said. “Then he discovered some area in the moment and scored a goal. We made a mistake and dragged 3 midfielders to the same side and discovered Messi. all through themselves.
Once the goal was scored, Argentina took a weight off its shoulders and began looking for the favorite team to win the first World Cup played in the Middle East. Argentina kept coming to Mexico and replaced 21-year-old Enzo Fernandez, who plays for Benfica in Portugal. , scored the odd goal in the 87th minute.
Fernandez took an inside pass into Messi’s penalty area, went toe-to-toe with Mexican defender Erick Gutierrez, went over the ball to give himself space, and introduced a shot into the most sensitive corner of the net past Ochoa.
Messi was the first to triumph in Fernández and jumped into his arms.
“I’m very pleased to score, but the most important thing is that we were satisfied that we were able to get the win,” Fernandez said. ‘I told you,’ and I’m very pleased I indexed it. “
Messi is betting on his 5th World Cup and has equaled Argentina’s history in the tournament with Maradona, who has played 21 games. Maradona has also scored 8 goals in those 21 matches.
The wonderful past Maradona, however, won a World Cup in 1986 in Mexico, a name that escaped Messi. Saturday’s victory, however, puts him back on track to face this year.
“In the first half we weren’t doing the things we deserved to be doing and in the moment we started doing them,” Messi said. He throws them smart balls, placing the area between their lines and starting to play our game. “
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On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest
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