Lionel Messi stood in tears in the center of Atlanta Stadium, sobbing on the shoulder of a teammate, after adding another incredible World Cup victory to the story of his incredible career.
Argentina’s great sporting icon was shown on a giant screen looking up in despair after learning his hosts had lost 2-0 to Egypt with less than 20 minutes remaining. The tears Messi would have shed in that moment would have been the same as those of his great contemporary Cristiano Ronaldo, who bid an emotional farewell to the World Cup after Portugal lost in stoppage time to Spain.
Instead, a defiant Argentina decided this wasn’t going to happen and turned things around by scoring three goals in 14 minutes in one of the most remarkable comebacks of the World Cup to date. Messi is 39 years old and does most of his work at a walking pace these days, but his magic hasn’t diminished over the years.
Messi’s look. Messi is waiting. Messi saves energy when it matters most. Your body may slow down, but your brain remains very sharp. Genius doesn’t change. And he proved it in spectacular fashion in another dreadful World Cup, dragging Argentina off the field just as Egypt were about to be added to the tournament’s shock list.
Argentina defeats Egypt in stunning comeback
Egypt led with goals in both halves from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico (the latter scoring before the video assistant referee could whistle for a foul at the other end), and goalkeeper Mostafa Shobair was also in great form. Messi also managed to save Schobeil’s penalty in the first half, which was the fourth of his eight missed penalties at the World Cup. His absence from the game against Austria also means he is now the only player (excluding penalties) to have missed two penalties in one World Cup. But there was still time for Messi to once again create game-defining moments and lead Argentina to the kind of jubilation seen during their World Cup qualification victory in Qatar nearly four years ago.
In the 11th minute of the match, he crossed with Cristiano Romero and gave Argentina hope with a header. Four minutes and 18 seconds later, Messi took a shot with his left foot, but it went past Chobeil and hit the crossbar.
Egypt gave it their all and finally succumbed to an Enzo Fernandes header in stoppage time, their most heartbreaking sending off yet. In desperation, Messi was thrown high into the air by his teammates in front of the Argentine fans, who stayed put long after the final whistle, singing songs from the list to the dull beat of the drums.
This is why Messi’s Argentine colleagues are willing to sacrifice when it comes to hard work. They know the owners are waiting for them to win their games in the World Cup.
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photo caption,
Chobeira’s ‘brilliant save’ saves Messi from penalty shootout
Consequences for England
Had Argentina lost, would Messi have lost the World Cup forever? If he had progressed to the next World Cup, he would have been 43 years old. Although he is the oldest defensive player to play in a World Cup, the lure of playing in his home country may have spurred him on.
Instead, Messi could face Switzerland or Colombia in the quarter-finals. “It was unbelievable, it was amazing,” former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson said live on BBC Radio 5 from Atlanta. Argentina failed. At one point, they were eliminated from the tournament. “Egypt are very upset about the judge’s decision that went against them. They were denied a second goal before they could score it due to a foul that occurred almost on their own touchline.” “Then Lionel Messi stepped in and took over. A great pass, a great goal and subsequent substitutions worked in Argentina’s favor.”
It must be said that Argentina’s recovery was not only due to Messi’s performance, but it also had an impact on England. England may have simply believed that with Egypt leading the way, it was now or never to reach the men’s World Cup final for the first time since 1966. England’s route to the final would have been via Norway in the quarter-finals and, if they had qualified, Egypt, Switzerland or Colombia in the last four.
Rather, the shadow of Messi and Argentina remains a potential obstacle to defeating the dangerous Norwegian. And as Egypt has learned from its own experience, Messi still looms large over any opponent, even at his advanced age.
Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive finals tournament matches, and currently has eight goals. This was the highest score by a player in the first five games since Germany’s Gerd Müller scored 10 goals against Mexico in 1970.
He also has 16 goals and 13 goals and three assists in his last nine World Cup games. The worrying thing for England is that there is still room for more. And he seems willing to do it. 01:12
photo caption,
Fernandes scores ‘best goal of his career’
Argentina remains an important force as well, a classic combination of silk and steel with Messi as their talisman.
Lionel Scaloni’s side have hope where Messi is, but they know there is plenty of other talent backed by an innate hatred of defeat. Argentina, like the champions, find ways to win, as they did in the round of 16 when they finally beat Cape Verde 3-2. The presence of Messi also helps. It was the last time a country lost a two-goal deficit in a World Cup match and came back to win without overtime. According to Opta’s probability of winning data, Argentina had only a 0.6% chance of winning at the time of Romero’s goal. There was plenty of competition, including the drama and emotion of England’s 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca, making it arguably the greatest World Cup match in history.
And Messi’s tears showed that even at the age of 39, he is not immune to the emotions that football evokes.
