Lionel Messi rose to the occasion and scored a stunning goal from outside the penalty box for Argentina, giving his team a 1-0 lead, as Argentina needed to beat Mexico in order to improve their chances of qualifying for the Round of 16 tournaments. Fans all over the world have heaped praise on Messi for his stunning strike.
Angel di Maria, who provided the assist for Messi’s remarkable goal, has now spoken out about how the captain of Argentina planned the goal. He discovered a flaw in Mexico’s defense against his team.
Prior to Messi’s stunning goal, Argentina struggled to generate quality chances against the Mexicans.
Later, the team won 2-0 with a curling shot from the left corner of the penalty box by Enzo Fernandes.
In his opening statement regarding Messi’s goal, Di Maria stated that his delivery was a “turd,” but that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner made the best use of it, as he always does.
The former Real Madrid star was quoted by La Nacion as saying, “I threw him a turd, but he always finds solutions to everything.”The fact that the ball reached him is what matters.
Di Maria also said that Messi saw an opportunity to show Mexico’s plan’s defensive weakness. In order to score, he asked his teammates to give him the ball. The captain of Argentina scored by putting the ball in the back of the net in that situation.
Di Maria stated, “We had spoken a minute before [the goal].”He claimed that they were dropping deep and narrowly within the space to try to give it to him thereby appearing in the space in front of them. I gave it to him after I waited for that moment to arrive. Furthermore, he scored a colossal goal. I no longer have words. Leo is everything to me because I have had the opportunity to play with the best player in the world at the club level and for 14 years with the national team.
At the end of an exhaustingly long night, Di Maria continued, “We had planned this.”We were aware that the first 45 minutes would be extremely complex. Mexico was aware that a draw might be acceptable given that their upcoming match against Saudi Arabia could result in a victory. We anticipated an opening in the second half, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Messi and Argentina have not completed their task for the group stage yet. They still have Poland as their remaining match. La Albiceleste’s passage into the knockout stages would be secured by victory over the team led by Robert Lewandowski. Their campaign would come to an end if they were defeated.