Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday to become the first team to qualify for the World Cup final, with Lionel Messi producing yet another Man of the Match performance to guide his nation to victory.
The 35-year old opened the scoring with a penalty just after the half hour mark, before Julian Alvarez doubled the lead a few minutes later.
But it was what happened in the second half that proved Messi has still got it.
Picking up the ball on the halfway line, he burst past Josko Gvardiol before being halted by the Croatian defender on the right of the penalty area.
Yet somehow, Messi managed to twist his way out of trouble, driving to the byline and cutting the ball back for Alvarez to tap home.
"That was just genius…!"
Lionel Messi leaves the commentary panel lost for words with this beautiful piece of skill to gift Argentina a third goal… 🙌🇦🇷#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/2KjMWqMjyA
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 13, 2022
A stunning sequence of play and since the match between the two sides, Gvardiol has admitted it was a pleasure to play against the PSG man despite the loss.
“Messi is a completely different type of player in the club and national team. I am glad that I played against him even though we lost.
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“But today and tomorrow I will be able to tell the children that I guarded Messi for 90 minutes. I guess we will beat him next time.”
Messi coming out on top in the battle between himself and Gvardiol will certainly not do any harm to the 20-year old defender’s stock, with the RB Leipzig man arguably the best centre-back at this year’s World Cup, as some of Europe’s elite begin circling for his signature.