Argentina’s World Cup hopes revived with victory over Mexico

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Lusail, Qatar — Lionel Messi and Argentina still live to fight today.

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For some of the 2022 FIFA World Cup favorites, the group stage has become an arena for survival and progress in a tournament where a week of preparation is proving to be insufficient.

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The longer the top teams can stay in the tournament, the hope is that more ties will be built, and Argentina, heading to the match against Mexico in front of 88,966 people here at the Lusail Stadium, made a shock exit from the tournament after only two appearances. I was facing an exit. game.

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However, Messi rescued his team with a goal in the 64th minute, as he has done for 20 years, while Enzo Fernandez added two seconds in the 87th minute of the 2-0 victory.

“It was a tough match. Losing it after having a result in the first match was not what we expected.The fact is that the days are getting longer and we have the opportunity to change the situation. Messi, who was named Player of the Match, said: “We knew this was an important match, because if we don’t win, it’s over. We knew we would be back in a safe place and it would all be back in our hands.

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“I was lucky enough to win the match, and I’m in control of my destiny, so it calms me down a bit, so I’m happy about that.”

Shortly before Messi’s eighth World Cup goal, Argentina struggled to find a rhythm of play.

Argentina hit the wall in their first game at this same stadium when they upset Saudi Arabia 2-1. It was Argentina’s most surprising loss since the opening game of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. That side, which featured Diego Maradona, recovered and made it to the final before losing to West Germany.

Still, in a 24-team tournament at the time, getting into the round of 16 was easier. In this 32-team tournament, Argentina needed to finish in the top two of their group, with Poland beating Saudi Arabia early. On that day, it is a complicated matter.

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The win sets Argentina up for their final match against Poland, advancing to the Round of 16 with a win.

“We took a different approach in the second half,” the Argentina international said. ‘ said. Directed by Lionel Scaroni. “They put a lot of pressure on us and they were playing their game. We saw it in the second half, made adjustments at halftime and started playing better in the second half.

Argentina don’t look like a contender yet, but the same can be said for Germany, who lost their opening match to Japan, and England, who looked indifferent against the United States on Friday after thrashing Iran 6-2 on Friday. increase.

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It took Argentina about an hour to find the game and finally found a way to get a group of passes together before Messi was picked at the top of the penalty area. The left-footed prodigy made an inch of space for himself and Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo put the ball past Ochoa’s outstretched arm and just inside the far corner.

An inch in either direction, and Ochoa gets it or hits the goalpost. The accuracy of the shot was so much.

“I didn’t think we gave him a lot of space today,” said Mexico coach Gerardo Martino. All midfielders slid to the same side and found Messi alone.”

Once the goal was scored, the weight was lifted for Argentina and they began to look like a favorable side to win the first World Cup tournament held in the Middle East. Substitute Enzo Fernández, 21, who is playing for San Francisco, scored another goal in the 87th minute.

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Fernandez received a pass from Messi inside the penalty area, found himself facing Mexican defender Erik Gutierrez, stepped on the ball to clear space and shot over Ochoa into the top corner of the net.

Messi approached Fernandez first and jumped into his arms.

“I’m very happy to have scored, but more importantly to have won,” Fernandez said. “Leo told me to play close to him and when I scored. , he came over and said, ‘I told you.’ I was so happy to list him.”

Messi is in his fifth World Cup appearance, tying Maradona as Argentina’s record for most appearances in the competition, with 21 appearances each. Maradona also scored eight goals in his 21 appearances.

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But the late great Maradona won the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, a title Messi missed. I got on

“We didn’t do what we had to do in the first half, but in the second we started doing it,” Messi said. They found space between their lines and started playing their game.

Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DerekVanDiest

Postmedia football expert Derek van Diest are in Qatar to cover all kickoffs of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Subscribe now to get access to all his articles.