The Legends of the World Cup: The Real Juventus of a Germ with a Realistic Talisman and an Integrable Player to Win the Final

The European side has, once again, upset the odds to reach yet another World Cup semifinal after beating tournament favorite Brazil in the previous round and, make no mistake, Argentina will have its work cut out if its to reach the final.

They last met in the semifinals eight years ago – a goalless game that Argentina ultimately won on penalties – and prior to that have contested two other knockout games: a quarterfinal in 1998 – best remembered for Dennis Bergkamp’s sensational winning goal – and the final in 1978 when Argentina won the World Cup for the first time.

The key protagonists from the meeting are still present. For the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal has returned as manager and veteran left-back Daley Blind is still a key part of the national team, while Messi remains Argentina’s talisman and most potent attacking threat.

Messi did everything he could to ensure that Argentina won the World Cup, their first since 1986.

“At this point in his career, he’s an aging genius,” sports scientist Simon Brundish told CNN Sport. He doesn’t have the strength to run as much as Dybala in the team, but he is still going to win you games.

“If you watch Messi explicitly, you would see he’s stood in space so much when the opposition have got the ball,” Brundish explained, adding that the amount Messi walks also speaks to Argentina’s defensive organization.

“Argentina set up their system around him not being involved in the press,” said Brundish. They are not a high pressing team anyways. It’s never been part of Messi’s game and his role is not related to that.

Argentina was knocked out in the first round by Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands had a draw against Ecuador. Both teams are looking to make the final four for the first time in years.

Memphis Depay had a wonderful finish against the USA in the last 16 of the World Cup, as well as three goals for the Netherlands, who have looked good going forward.

An unforgettable win for Argentine coach Mac Allister during the semi-final defeat against Brazil in the first leg of the World Cup finals

“Leo surprises you every day with the things he does,” midfielder Alexis Mac Allister told reporters on Thursday. “You can see he is happy and that is very important to us.”

The team that lost three previous World Cup finals and failed to qualify for the tournament will likely think of it as unfinished business.

Argentina is the favorite to progress in the quarterfinals, but neither side has faced a top team in the tournament.

That is about to change. The winner of Friday’s game will likely face Brazil in the semifinals, although the five-time champion will have to get past Croatia in its own quarterfinal first.

Leading 2-0 with just eight minutes remaining thanks to goals from Nahuel Molina and Messi, the Netherlands staged a stunning comeback as a Wout Weghorst’s brace ensured the game went to extra time.

Martinez has made a name for himself as an expert in penalty shootouts, saving three in Argentina’s Copa America semifinal against Colombia last year, and further cemented his place as an Argentine hero in Qatar.

After Enzo Fernandez missed the first penalty that would have given Argentina victory, Lautaro Martinez stepped up and hammered home the winning spot kick to send the thousands of Argentine fans inside the Lusail Stadium into delirium.

After the final whistle, the Argentina’s players stood in front of the huge wall of blue and white shirts and took in the adulation of their adoring fans.

It was another remarkable ending to a match at this World Cup, which has seen all manner of shocks and comebacks, though this one perhaps exceeded them all.

Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz, known for his eccentricity and enjoyment of the limelight, certainly added to the drama, dishing out an numerous yellow cards, including one in the shootout, as he struggled to keep control of the game.

The first mass brawl of the 120 minutes was caused by Leandro Paredes smashing a ball into the Netherlands sideline.

This match will undoubtedly go down as an all-time World Cup classic, but Argentina will quickly need to bring itself down back to earth ahead of the semifinal against knockout specialist Croatia.

The national team won its first major trophy in twenty years in 2021, and Lionel Messi his first in the famous blue and white shirt, because of the work of the head coach who is a former Argentine international.

Argentina was not yet good enough in Qatar and its defensive frailties remain despite recent improvements.

Surprises in the early stages of the World Cup: Messi’s final whistle and the fate of the Uruguay midfielder in the era of World Cup

Running towards the left-hand side of the penalty area, the Argentina captain played an absurd reverse pass perfectly into the path of Molina, who took one touch and poked the ball past Andries Noppert.

Replays showed Messi didn’t once look up to see Molina’s run; how he saw the pass, let alone played it, only he will know. When you think you have seen everything in Messi’s 18 year career, he still finds a way to surprise you.

When Messi stepped up to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot after 75 minutes, it looked like game over. The World Cup in Russia has shown that the match is never over until the referee blows for the final whistle.

Having offered so little for more than 80 minutes, the Netherlands opted to hammer long ball after long ball towards the Argentina penalty area, aiming for the 6 feet 6 inch substitute Weghorst and Virgil Van Dijk.

It looked as though either Cody Gakpo or Teun Koopmeiners were going to take a shot at goal, but the latter played an ingenious pass into Weghorst, who turned his defender and slotted the ball past Martinez.

There were further sour scenes that followed, though, as some of the Argentina team celebrated in the faces of the distraught Dutch players once Martinez had scored the winning penalty, caused tempers to flare once again.

It was a huge turn of events with Weghorst, who was just starting to make an impact at Reading and was currently on loan at Besiktas, which put a halt to the march towards a World Cup title.

There are also still question marks around Angel Di Maria’s fitness meaning Messi will have even more pressure on his shoulders to inspire his side to its first World Cup final since 2014.

The fate of the Croatian goalkeeper Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel after a first-half penalty shootout

After scoring a last-ditch goal to force extra-time and eventually a penalty shootout, the Croats won their match thanks to more heroics from their goalkeeper, who also saved two penalties.

The Brazilians, who played with great attacking flair but were stopped by a well-drilled Croatian team, were prevented from playing their style of football.

The fiery encounter took a toll on defenders Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel who were suspended after picking up cautions.

The magician has scored four goals and made three assists in the tournament, but it’s his playmaking ability which has been so devastating.

“We will try to stop them as a team and not with man-marking. Argentina are not only Messi, they have a number of great players. We need to stop the entire Argentina team.

“Mateo, Luka and Marcelo are the best Croatia midfield in history. I don’t think it can be repeated. When you pass them the ball it is safer than having your money in the bank,” said defender Josip Juranović, per Reuters.

Realizing a Dream of a World Cup Winner: Lionel Messi and Luka Modri in the Lusail Stadium

Argentina has a 41% chance of victory. France has a 26% chance of successfully defending their World Cup title.

Lionel Messi has a lifelong dream of leading Argentina to World Cup glory, as the Albiceleste outclassed Croatia in a three goal victory in the semifinals.

Two first-half goals, the first a Messi penalty and the second a solo effort from Julian Alvarez, put Argentina in a commanding position at the interval, a position that Croatia never looked like recovering from.

Alvarez secured the victory with Argentina’s third goal in the second half following a wonderful Messi assist, providing the South American team and its 35-year-old captain with a chance to banish the demons of the 2014 final defeat, as well as securing the country’s first World Cup title since 1986.

Messi felt a twinge in his left thigh during the game, but he was not in pain because of the way his mazy, twisting run bamboozled Joko Gvardiol, one of this tournament’s best defenders.

His goal against Mexico in the group stages and an assist against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals have provided some of the more memorable moments for a nation that considers him a deity.

As many as 40,000 Argentina fans are estimated to have traveled to Qatar for this World Cup, according to the Argentine embassy in Qatar, and it sounded like all of them were inside the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.

After the winning score was made public, the Argentina bench and coaching staff joined in with the chants and songs from the crowd at the stadium.

The last chance for both Luka Modri and Lionel Messi to win the World Cup is this weekend, as both have led their countries to losing finals.

Though Croatia started the match marginally the better of the two teams, these players had played as many minutes as were possible so far in Qatar, winning against Japan and Brazil on penalties following two energy-sapping spells of extra time.

Argentina, similarly, has also improved as the tournament has gone on – though it was hardly able to get any worse after that stunning defeat to Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/football/argentina-croatia-lionel-messi-qatar-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html

The Algerian defenders in the Lusail Stadium: the Italians face Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup

The team, which at the time seemed to think it was written for Messi in his last dance to end in glory, seems almost different today than it was on that day.

That proved to be the case for Croatia as, surprisingly, Modrić of all people gave the ball away in midfield and Gvardiol failed to track Alvarez, leaving Dominik Livakovic – twice Croatia’s shootout in Qatar – exposed one-on-one against the Manchester City forward.

Messi picked up the ball deep and ran Gvardiol ragged, before finding Alvarez inside the box to send the Argentina fans inside the Lusail Stadium into raptures.

The only thing that prevented Croatia from falling further behind before the half time break was the amazing save Livakovic made, even for a team that has been known to conjure footballing miracles.

Croatia’s stay of execution went until the 70th minute after a combination of weary attacking play and stout Argentine defending, but it offered little in the second half.

France and Argentina, the two most consistent teams in the World Cup, face off Sunday in a winner-take-all match for the trophy.

Both teams that have played in the tournament have been characterized by their defensive doggedness, despite Argentina and France having all four of the top scoring players.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni says that he has seen images of people in Argentina watching the semifinals and celebrating.

“Of course we know what Lionel Messi means in the history of football, but this is a match between France [and Argentina] at the end of the day and there are some very good players in the two squads.”

The build-up to the game was not ideal, so France will use Mbappe to light up the game on Sunday. The French camp was struck by a bug that affected several players, among them Ibrahima Konaté and Raphal Varane.

Deschamps said there was no further update to give on the eve of the game, and Konaté, Varane and Coman missed collective training on Friday.

Lazio’s last player to score: Pelé versus Messi in the semi-finals of the World Cup and how both France and Argentina can play together

The last teenager to score in a World Cup final was Pelé, at the last World Cup.

The 23-year-old has gone up a notch at this tournament, already scoring five goals – one more than he did in 2018 – and adding a couple more assists to that mix.

His influence has been felt in the two games he has not scored in. Against Morocco, despite not scoring, his mere presence was instrumental in both France goals in the 2-0 win.

Both Messi and Mbappé have scored five goals this World Cup and across the last two tournaments have both scored or assisted eleven goals each, more than anyone else.

The two teams met at the World Cup. They played the best game of the tournament in the round of 16 and France won 4-3.

Argentina had a higher percentage of possession than the rest of the tournament, but showed that it prefers not to have the ball against the best teams.

Les Bleus looks at its best when playing direct, counter-attacking football. Using Giroud’s strength and Mbappé’s speed, the French can dominate any defense on the transition.

Argentina is not as quick in moving the ball from defense to attack, but similarly the team prefers to keep the opposition at arm’s length, rather than try control the game with the ball.

What is more likely is that both teams will dominate the ball for periods of the game, while being very happy to cede control of the ball at other times.

Both Messi and Mbappé are so good that either team can win the game if they stop them from receiving the ball.