Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Lionel Messi rose to the occasion and scored a stunning goal from outside the penalty box to give Argentina a 1-0 lead. Argentina needed to defeat Mexico to improve their chances of making the Round of 16 of the tournament. Fans all over the world have praised Messi for his spectacular goal. Having discovered a weakness in Mexico’s defense against his team, Angel di Maria, the man credited with setting up Messi’s incredible goal, has now revealed how the Argentina captain planned the goal.
Prior to Messi’s stunning goal against the Mexicans, Argentina was having trouble producing quality chances. Later, Enzo Fernandes scored a looping goal from the left corner of the box to give his team a 2-0 victory.
The Argentina captain scored when that opportunity presented itself
Speaking first about the goal by Messi, Di Maria called his pass to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner a “turd,” but he still made the best of it, as he always does. According to the former Real Madrid player, “I threw him a turd, but he always finds solutions to everything,” La Nacion reported. The fact that the ball reached him is what counts.
Di Maria added that Messi had recognized the chance to exploit a defensive weakness in Mexico’s strategy. He urged his teammates to pass the ball to him in a certain scenario so he could score. The Argentina captain scored when that opportunity presented itself.
“We had spoken a minute before [the goal],” Di Maria said. “He said they were dropping deep, narrow, inside [the area] and so the space in front of them would appear, to try to give it to him there. I waited for that moment to appear and gave it to him. And he scored a tremendous goal. I don’t have words anymore. I have had the chance to play with the best player in the world at the club level, and for 14 years with the national team, and for me Leo is everything.”
Argentina and Messi still have work to do in the group stage
“We had planned this,” Di Maria continued at the end of a long, exhausting night. “We knew the first 45 minutes would be very complicated. Mexico knew a draw might be OK because their last game is against Saudi Arabia and they could get their win there. We knew the second half would open up, and that’s the way it was. (lovelandhabitat.org) ”
Argentina and Messi still have work to do in the group stage. There is still the matchup with Poland. La Albiceleste’s advancement into the knockout rounds would be guaranteed by a win over the Robert Lewandowski-led team. Their campaign would be over if they lost.
