In the early morning of Thursday Beijing time, Argentina defeated Italy 3-0 in the South American European Confrontation to win the championship, and Messi did not score in this game, but contributed 2 assists, and after the game he was rated as the best in the game. Despite his mediocre performance at Paris Saint-Germain, Messi was in excellent form after returning to the Argentine national team. At the end of the Year's World Cup in Qatar, can he lead the Argentine national team, which lacks superstars, to create a miracle?
Messi was "resurrected" in the national team
In this match against Italy, Messi scored 4 of 8 shots on goal but failed to score. He had 4 crosses, 2 absolutes and 2 assists. 63 passes and 58 successes, 4 passes on the pitch, 5 fouls, 3 steals. After the match, Messi won the best honor of the game for his outstanding performance.
It's hard to imagine that Messi, who is in such excellent form, is only a supporting role at Paris Saint-Germain - this season for Paris in 34 games, Messi's statistics are 11 goals and 15 assists, such a performance for the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, can only be regarded as barely qualified. The brightest star and core of the grand Paris squad had to be Mbappe. So much so that in the past two weeks, Messi has been consecutively selected by the French Professional Players' Union, the Team Newspaper and the BEST TEAM of the Season in OPTA. And just a day ago, The Greater Parisian Rothen even named Messi in a personal column, "On all levels, Messi has had a disappointing season, on the pitch he feels like a mercenary to me, if you can't run, then don't play." 」 ”
However, after returning to the national team, Messi is like returning to the safe haven, finding a way to make himself more comfortable with the ball - you know, Messi is almost 35 years old, he can't do the same as in the past, he can't attack the opponent's goal alone, but also needs to use his dribbling to attract the defense, use his vision to pass good balls, and benefit the finisher in front of the goal. Just like in Argentina today, when counterattacking, he can not only break through the goal with the ball himself, but also attract the defense to send assists to teammates such as Lautaro and Dybala, which is also an offensive way to make opponents more jealous.
UEFA Technical Observation Group commented after the match, "Messi controlled the game from start to finish, he showed excellent skill, assisted Lautaro and created a lot of opportunities for his teammates. Unfortunately, he didn't score, but he brought a masterful performance to the Wembley fans. ”
It seems that Apart from not scoring a goal, Messi is impeccable.
Argentina stormed the World Cup title
After leading the team to victory over Italy, Messi said: "This team is constantly growing. That's what we want. We were able to continue to improve our strengths and add changes in football, which proves once again that this team is ready. This team is always down-to-earth and with a spirit of humility. But as I said that day, we were ready to fight any team. Against the excellent Italian team, it was a huge test. Such a tournament is the World Cup quarter-final or semi-final level, and although Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, they are a great team. ”
With this victory, Argentina have gone unbeaten in 32 games, breaking the national team's previous record of consecutive unbeaten (31 unbeaten from 1991 to 1992), leaving only five games left by the Italian national team to maintain a national team unbeaten record of 37 games. Obviously, this team has been in very good competitive shape for quite some time.
Core player Di Maria said after the game: "Everything has changed since the Copa America triumph, we got rid of the baggage on our bodies, played happily, things are much easier for us. This is the second time in the past 11 months that Argentina has lifted the trophy – the last time was in July 2021, with Di Maria's winning goal, Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 to win the Copa America, breaking the curse of 28 years of not winning.
Messi confessed: "It's a good thing to get used to winning, we're ready to play against any team and we know how to play our football. I'm not saying we're favourites for the World Cup, but we're ready. ”
It is foreseeable that the World Cup in Qatar in November this year will be the last game of Messi's peak – judging from the current situation, a messi who does not score may bring out an impressive Argentina.
Upstream news synthesis