22-year-old Argentine striker Julian Alvarez scored a penalty, then went it alone and scored a goal after changing sides to show his impact, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to advance, and he became the main contributor to the team's qualification for the World Cup final.
Alvarez served as Haaland's substitute at Manchester City this season and was himself a deputy to Lautaro Martínez for the Argentine national team, but he has performed well every time he plays, scoring four goals in the World Cup and stealing Lautaro Martinez's starter to become Argentina's new generation of strikers.
Alvarez scored a penalty in the 32nd minute. At that time, the Croatian defense line was pressed high and deployed in the center circle. Alvarez looked for opportunities between Croatian centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Gvardior, who retreated deep and Gvardior did not follow Alvarez. The Argentine team-mate passed the ball and Alvarez rushed forward to meet it, and the Croatian defense opened the door wide, and Dejan Lovren and Gvardior could not catch up with him. Facing goalkeeper Livakovic, Alvarez picked a foul, the referee awarded a penalty, and Messi scored a goal, Argentina was able to break the deadlock.
In the 39th minute, Alvarez's 2-0 goal for Argentina showed his impact. Argentina counterattacked from the back, Messi fell after a kick, Alvarez rushed to grab possession, and then strode through the half, Sousa and Yuranovic fought and retreated.
Argentine right-back Neville Molina ran up at high speed and plunged straight into the box to draw Sousa's attention. Alvarez continued to push in with the ball, and then there was a bit of luck, and the ball hit Sousa and Juranovic, but still fell in front of Alvarez and was shot by him.
In the 69th minute, Alvarez scored his second goal of the game, this time it was simpler, Messi "god-level breakthrough" on the right flank, got rid of Gvardior and crossed, Alvarez scored in front of the goal, giving Argentina a 3-0 lead. He shot twice in this game, both on target, all converted into goals. Alvarez started four times in this World Cup, scoring four goals. He started eight appearances for Argentina in all competitions, scoring six of them.
Since Sergio Aguero's retirement, Argentina have been looking for a good partner for Messi to charge the pack. I thought this World Cup would be the time for Lautaro Martinez to show his skills, but Alvarez, who is 13 years younger than Messi, came out!
Argentina's starting striker was Lautaro Martinez, but his sluggish performance in this World Cup was frequent and he missed frequently, and Alvarez's performance as a substitute was even more impressive. In the third group stage against Poland, he made his first World Cup start and scored. Then in the round of 16 against Australia, he continued to start and score. He has since secured the starting spot as an Argentine striker, replacing Lautaro Martínez. In the round of 4, he scored twice and scored a penalty for Messibo, and his performance was exquisite.
At the age of 22 and 316, Alvarez became the youngest player after Pele to score twice in the last four or final of the World Cup.
Fabrizio Romano, a well-known Italian football journalist, shared an old photo of Alvarez and Messi, saying that Álvarez was still a young fan who asked to take a photo with Messi for 10 years, dreaming of playing in the World Cup one day; In this match, Alvarez scored twice and scored in the last four of the World Cup.
Alvarez, who joined City from River Plate this year as Haaland's substitute, has only made nine of his three Premier League starts this season, scoring three goals. The Haaland substitute is now shining at the World Cup, but will there be a chance to turn Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola into a double arrow in the second half of the season?