In Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final, Messi scored the first goal himself and assisted Julián Álvarez’s two other goals in Argentina’s 3-0 win. The convincing triumph against Croatia means that the white and blue will face either France or Morocco in Sunday’s World Cup final broadcast by news. The last final place will be decided in the last semi-final on Wednesday evening. Argentina thus gets the opportunity to take the proud football nation’s first World Cup gold since 1986. But perhaps even more exciting in the eyes of many Europeans: Lionel Messi is now just one match away from the trophy that many believe will cement him as the best footballer of all time. And Messi seems obsessed with succeeding this time. Against Croatia, he was, as several times before in Qatar, the big player of the match. Egil “Drillo” Olsen commented on the match on radio for news Sport. The old national team manager actually summed up Messi’s evening in an apt way in the middle of the match: – Croatia has stopped sending two men on him. Now they send three. – We will never see the like Now the debate is on again: Can anyone in football history measure up to the career of Argentina’s 35-year-old superstar? – Now we have to stop discussing who is the best footballer of all time. There is no one around. We will never see anything like it as long as our hearts beat. Unbelievably good time and time again, says TV 2’s football expert Jesper Mathisen. – Is there still a debate, asks the British football profile Gary Lineker rhetorically. Who is the best soccer player of all time? Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Pelé Diego Maradona Some others Show result Messi, who already holds most of the records it is possible to have in top football, added to his record collection in Tuesday’s match. First he equaled the German legend Lothar Matthaus’ record for the number of World Cup matches (25), then he scored his 11th World Cup goal in his career and became the all-time top scorer in the World Cup for Argentina. That it would be Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez who would send Argentina to the World Cup final was perhaps written in the stars. In June 2015, when Álvarez was just 15 years old, he posted a selfie with Messi on his own Instagram account. Álvarez is said to have been 11 years old when the photo was taken. “Happy birthday to the best player in history. Thank you so much, idol,” Álvarez wrote on the photo. Seven years later they sank Croatia together and secured their ticket to the final. Julian Álvarez described Messi in 2015 as his idol. In 2022, they sent Argentina to the World Cup final together. Photo: Montage news/ REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/https://www.instagram.com/juliaanalvarez/ Alvarez is also the first Argentine to score in three different matches in his first World Cup tournament since Leopoldo Luque in 1978. Messi’s scores in five matches in one and the same WC also an Argentine record. The Argentine superstar was part of the 2014 final the Argentines lost 0-1 against Germany, and has gone on to win the World Cup. It is this trophy that he lacks in an already overflowing trophy cabinet. And everything suggests that this year’s World Cup will be the last for a Messi who has turned 35. In an interview before the group stage, Messi replied that this is “definitely his last World Cup”. Thus, Sunday’s match gets an extra historic rush. For Croatia’s great star Luka Modric (37), the WC, also his last, continues with the bronze final on Saturday. Messi penalty and incredible goal The match itself started smoothly and with few chances, but after just over half an hour it really hit the Lusail stadium. A brilliant pass from Enzo Fernández sent Julián Álvarez through alone with Dominik Livakovic doing his best to save the City talent’s finish. Instead, he fouled Álvarez, prompting referee Daniele Orsato to immediately point to the penalty spot and show the goalkeeper a yellow card. From the penalty spot, Messi was merciless and hammered home 1-0 with a well-placed and high penalty kick. – Such punishments cannot be saved. It’s tough, it’s loud and it’s far away in the corner, was the verdict from Egil “Drillo” Olsen on news’s radio broadcast. Six minutes before the break, Argentina increased their lead. An unsuccessful set-piece from the Croatians led to Argentina countering, and the ball ended up with an onrushing Julián Álvarez. From his own half of the pitch, the forward took the ball forward, but seemed to lose it both once and twice. An incredible series of good, old-fashioned “klub og babb” still led to him getting the ball through the Croats’ defensive line, and from close range Álvarez hammered in 2-0. As TV 2’s expert commentator Petter Myhre so nicely put it: If he had tried that 500 more times, he would not have been able to score. Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez both scored for Argentina in Tuesday’s semi-final. Photo: Martin Meissner / AP On news’s radio broadcast, Drillo pointed out that, in isolation, the Argentina star should have chosen differently in the situation before the goal. – It is actually possible to criticize him for not playing that ball to the side, to a player who had been alone with the goalkeeper. He was a bit lucky to get it with him, says Drillo. But there was a goal, and 2-0 stood at the break. Croatia started the second half well and worked to get back into the game, but you can have the best game plan in the world. When the opponent has Lionel Messi, it is not certain that it will hold after all. – Pure and pure art And 20 minutes before the end we saw why. Then Messi got the ball out on the right, and decided to cash in a ticket to a World Cup carousel with Josko Gvardiol, the Croatia stopper who has been one of the championship’s best. But in the meeting with Messi, Guardiol looked like what he almost is, a junior player. Messi feinted him away twice and thrice before playing free Álvarez – who was given the easy job of hammering home 3-0. – Pure and pure art from one of the greatest artists this sport has ever seen, stated TV 2’s commentator Øyvind Alsaker. Egil Drillo Olsen referred to Messi’s performance before the goal as magic. – It should not be possible to get around there, as he does. Facing the wrong way and with two players around him, and then he gets to the dead line and gets put in. Incredible. This is football art, Drillo asserted. 3-0 was also the final result at the Lusail stadium, which is also the final venue in Qatar. Messi is so comfortable there that it should be a warning shot to Sunday’s opponent. Wednesday’s semi-final between Morocco and France kicks off on Wednesday evening at 20:00. There it will be decided whether it will be the big favorites from the baguette country or the “underdogs” from Morocco who can look forward to playing in the final on Sunday. The semi-final is shown on TV 2.
