At 3 a.m. Beijing time on December 1, Group C of the Qatar World Cup will play the final round of the showdown. And for Messi and his Argentine national team, it was also a desperate battle.
Due to the upset loss to Saudi Arabia in the first round, Argentina's current qualification situation is very unoptimistic. In terms of the standings, if Saudi Arabia defeats Mexico, or Mexico beats Saudi Arabia by four goals, Argentina must beat Poland to qualify.
And the Polish team only needs to hold on to a draw to ensure promotion, and will definitely "put a bus" to deal with it. This is a very bad signal for the Argentine team, which has no high school strikers and no breaking means.
After Lo Celso's injury, the Argentine midfield lacked a good playmaker. Messi can play his role, but every time he is on the field, he will be taken care of by 2-3 defenders, and he will be weak. DePaul has long been influenced by Simeone's defensive philosophy at Atletico and has almost forgotten his attacking skills. At this time, the Argentine team needs new heroes to step up.
Judging by the victory over Mexico, young player Enzo. Fernandez has hopes to break Argentina's attacking constipation. His breakthrough on the left can form a winged posture with Di Maria on the right, thus breaking down the Polish defensive structure to the maximum.
Then, it was the turn of Lautaro, who had been silent for the first two rounds. Martinez's performance was up. As Argentina's most prolific goalscorer other than Lionel Messi, his goal efficiency is not very high, especially at Inter. However, he always breaks in key moments and is especially good at difficult goals.
In this match, Poland will certainly not let Argentina easily enter their own penalty area. But as long as Di Maria and Enzo . Fernandes can send the ball into the box once and Lautaro is sure to create a surprise.
Another strategy is to bring the Polish team out to fight back behind them, as in the first half of the first game against Saudi Arabia. The Polish defender is tall and big, and his mobility is certainly not as good as that of the Saudi team. With the ability of Lautaro and Messi to seize chances, as long as they succeed once, they can also complete the fatal blow.
In addition to that, we overlooked one person, Dybala from Roma. The Argentine striker, who has not played in the first two games, has excellent long-range shooting ability, which can also be one of the keys to victory when facing dense defense. The premise is that Argentina coach Scaloni will give him a chance.
Of course, Argentina must not only play an efficient attack, but also defend well. Poland also has Lewandowski, the world's top striker in the squad. Because of the Ballon d'Or, he has been holding his breath to compete with Messi in the past two years. If Argentina continues to defend against Saudi Arabia, there may be another tragedy.
For Messi, this is the last World Cup. For Argentina, this is the most united national team in the last 20 years. As long as they overcome this crucial hurdle, they will surely be able to create new miracles.