For a moment, just a moment, it looked as though it wasn’t going to be Lionel Messi’s night. A first-half penalty was saved by Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who made amends for giving the spot-kick away in the first place. Yet goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez sent Lionel Scaloni’s side through. Falling at the first hurdle has now been successfully avoided…
Messi’s miss from 12 yards evoked memories of when he fluffed his lines for Barcelona against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2012.
That moment allowed the Blues to reach the final at the Catalan giants’ expense and their talisman was gutted in the aftermath, aware of how destiny had been denied.
Messi’s effort was poor for Argentina at the Stadium 974. It was a good height for Szczesny, who has grown considerably in stature since leaving Arsenal back in the summer transfer window of 2017.
Fortunately for him, his team-mates got the job done.
It was Alexis Mac Allister, the Brighton midfielder who is a cult hero at the Amex Stadium, who broke the deadlock in the 46th minute. Poland, it seemed, were still in rest mode.
And Julian Alvarez, the hotshot striker who has been stuck in Erling Haaland’s enormous shadow at Manchester City for the bulk of the season, then made the points safe with just over 20 minutes left on the clock.
It was a frustrating night for Messi, whose temper appeared to boil over towards the end. Though he’d later embrace Robert Lewandowski, he didn’t take too kindly to his Barcelona heir getting stuck into him. Opposite defenders take note.
Yet he can consider himself a lucky man and will sleep soundly in the solace that he has, at least, avoided a group stage elimination.
With Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal already through, after two wins from two, it would have been rocketfuel for those who dub the former Manchester United star the greatest player of all time.
Messi and Argentina knew they had to win tonight. A draw, and things would have got messy – especially with Mexico’s clash with Saudi Arabia lurching from one moment of drama to the next.
Nobody had expected them to lose to Saudi in their opening match but football has a sick sense of humour sometimes. It did that day, without a doubt.
Argentina’s response in the time since has, however, been impressive. Having beaten Mexico thanks to Messi and Enzo Fernandez, they’d given themselves a fighting chance.
They still have to be better than this, however, if they’re to add yet another star to their iconic white and blue strip. Scaloni, without a doubt, will be aware of that.
But it was a positive night for Argentina and Messi. As he looks to outscore Ronaldo, at a time where the pair are embroiled in a last tango on the grandest stage of all, it’s done enough to keep the critics at bay.
As for Ronaldo, he is expected to start when Portugal lock horns with South Korea in their World Cup clash on Thursday.
The 37-year-old will still be hoping to build on his goal against Ghana on matchday one. Privately, he feels he should have two to his name – though an effort against Uruguay last time out was given to Bruno Fernandes instead.
Ronaldo will now go into that game with even more motivation than before, especially knowing Messi and Argentina could lie in wait further down the line.
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