Winner of Croatia (3-0), the Albiceleste qualified on Tuesday for the sixth world final in its history. The Argentines will face on Sunday Morocco or France.
by Clément Martel (Lusail, Qatar, Special Envoy)
The Argentina Embassy has no antenna open in Lusail, a new city a stone’s throw north of Doha. But twenty-six men followed by fifty thousand others from the country of South America decided to appropriate a piece of land. Tuesday, December 13, the Argentines definitively elected home in the Lusail stadium. For their third match of the tournament played in the enclosure transformed into a Qatari Bombonera, the partners of Lionel Messi delivered a demonstration against Croatia (3-0), and made an appointment. On Sunday, they will again work on the lawn of Lusail, for the final of the World Cup (16 hours, metropolitan time) against France or Morocco. With one idea in mind: pin a third star in the Albiceleste jersey.
They want her so much. Aligned in an onion row, faced with fiery stands, all Argentinian players have communicated with their supporters the qualification for the sixth world final of the Albiceleste. All arms over it, arm under singing and jumping, without any being put forward. Among them, number 10 in the back and armband on the arm, Lionel Messi is not distinguished. On the field, however, it was once again he who put his own on the path of victory. On a penalty spot, the Argentine star opened the brand shortly after half an hour of play.
If the young Julian Alvarez, author of a double, shone against the Vatreni, Lionel Messi is the one who guides the young squad, who made his cause: to win the world title. “It is our leader, the one who animates us, who motivates us, and pushes us to do more. When he is on the field, we know he is with us, and that convinces us that we can do everything “, pays tribute to him defender Nicolas Tagliafico. Messi who before this year had not scored the slightest goal in the eliminatory phase of a World Cup (in four previous participations), has been in one per game since the knockout stages – and five in total, joining Kylian Mbappé in Head of the ranking.
A World Cup to the rhythm of Messi
Except for the inaugural match, since the start of the World Cup, Messi has been working on the water. Sometimes he falls on the lawn, also – more or less voluntarily. At 37, the Paris Saint-Germain star is still this falsely nonchalant walker, who observes the articulations of the game at the start of the game. In the Argentina team, all without exception run for him. But when it changes pace, time is twisted and the stadium is stretched. Among the best defenders of the competition, Josko Gvardiol noted it on Tuesday.
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