Argentina 3
Croatia 0
HERE’S ANOTHER STORY about Lionel Messi.
It began with a first-half penalty and was followed by a dubious assist and then an utterly beautiful one, sending Argentina into Sunday’s World Cup final against France or Morocco.
Messi will become the most-capped player in World Cup history in that final where he will have the chance to tell the most seductive tale of all, that the game’s greatest-ever player would win the only prize that has eluded him with his very last opportunity to do so.
But this isn’t just a story about Messi.
Argentina games at this competition have been a heady, unsteady malestrom of every kind of emotion, but tonight it all blended beautifully and Croatia were seen off with lithe, muscular ease.
This is a story about Messi’s team-mates, limited in many ways but propelled by a fierce, terrifying desire to win. Here they threw themselves into tackles, and were first to every ball. It is often facile to say it, but tonight they genuinely seemed to want to win more than an oddly torpid Croatia.
It is also a story of the rookie coach Lionel Scaloni, who saw a 36-match unbeaten run implode on the opening day against Saudi Arabia and managed to find the right changes to salvage the tournament, outcoaching luminaries like Louis Van Gaal en route.
After a nervy Argentine start – Alexis Macallister managed to tackle Messi in the early minutes – the two men Scaloni has introduced to the team since the opening defeat combined to hand Messi the game’s opening goal: Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez.
With Josko Gvardiol dropping off in a fret about Messi, Fernandez bisected the Croatian defence from deep, a raking pass onto which Julian Alvarez sprang. Poor Dejan Lovren was deeply unsettled, thrashing about in a startle, like an insect found on an upturned log. First he ran back to play Alvarez onside and then, inexplicably, ran away from him, leaving Alvarez a clear run on goal. He took a touch, lost possession, but was clattered by Daniel Livakovic, with referee Daniele Orsato pointing to the penalty spot.
Messi took a deep breath and smashed the ball high into the top corner, a left-footed version of what Harry Kane tried but failed to do against France.
Five minutes later Argentina had their second, a goal that melded two of the UK’s most enduring cultural moments from the 1980s: Diego Maradona’s solo goal in Mexico and Del Boy falling through the bar.
Where Maradona dribbled, Alvarez barrelled, collecting Messi’s little prod inside his own half and charging toward goal. He slipped by Lovren and then took a heavy touch that nonetheless rebounded off Josip Juranovic, then back off Alvarez, then off Sosa, whose Del Boyesque backwards stumble flicked up off Alvarez again, who was almost laughing as he volleyed the ball in from close range.
Alvarez’ impact on this team cannot be understated: He is to Messi what sonar waves are to a bat; it’s as if Messi sends Alvarez sprinting and hurtling about, bouncing off tackles, marking the outer limits of the pitch so Messi knows into which areas he can trot.
It was unusual to see Argentina as the strong, silent types of the first-half drama, with Croatia collapsing. Alvarez soon had a free header from a corner that Livakovic tipped away brilliantly, the ball bouncing off Juranovic at the far post and trickling agonisingly wide of the post.
Argentina remained unflustered after the break, and Messi might have scored the insurance third goal shortly after the break, exchanging a one-two with Fernandez and rifling a volley at Livakovic.
He instead settled for creating it, another moment of sheer individual brilliance.
Messi faced down Josko Gvardiol on the right wing and, before we go any further, you should know a few things.
Gvardiol has been the outstanding defender of the tournament thus far, is 15 years younger than Messi and 15cm taller. Nonetheless through some perfect, bewitching amalgam of misdirection, strength, acceleration, courage and awareness, Messi skated by him, checked back, and then squeezed by him again along the endline, slipping quickly away from him and disappearing like one’s own brief reflection in the window of a passing car.
With Gvardiol beaten, Messi pulled the ball back for Alvarez, who framed the art.
That won the game: Lovren might have earned a consolation for Croatia but he missed Ivan Perisic’s flicked header at the back post. There was a slightly ignominious for Luke Modric, who took the ball flush to the face and then jogged off with seven minutes remaining.
Modric’s farewell will come in the shade of a third-place play-off, but the impossible beauty of Messi’s goodbye is becoming very real indeed.
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina (Juan Foyth, 85′), Christian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Rodrigo de Paul (Exequiel Palacios 73′), Leandro Paredes (Lisandro Martinez, 61′), Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Macallister (Angelk Correa, 85′); Lionel Messi (captain), Julian Alvarez (Paulio Dybala, 73′)
Croatia: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa (Mislav Orsic, HT); Marcelo Brozovic (Bruno Petkovic, 50′), Luka Modric (captain) (Lovro Majer, 81′), Mateo Kovacic; Mario Pasalic (Nikola Vlasic, HT), Andrej Kramaric (Marko Livaja, 72′), Ivan Perisic
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
