Football

World Cup 2022: Messi Says He Knew of Croatia Weakness

World Cup 2022: Messi Says He Knew of Croatia Weakness

Argentina talisman Lionel Messi says that he was aware that his side could cause trouble for Croatia on the counter-attack in the sides’ 2022 World Cup semi-final in Qatar on Tuesday evening.

The fixture saw Argentina run out 3-0 winners over their veteran opponents Croatia to put them through to the sixth World Cup final in their footballing history. Argentina’s consisted of Leo Messi, from the penalty spot, and Man City striker Julian Alvarez, who netted a brace of goals.

Messi and Argentina’s Plan

Messi was at the center of all things good for Argentina as usual. The little magician was central to how his side attacked and apart from scoring, he assisted Alvarez for Argentina’s third goal. Messi was awarded man of the match after the game and spoke of how he and his side approached the game.

“This is a very wise squad,” Messi said, “We know what to do in every second of the game.”

“We knew the Croatians would have the ball possession but we knew this could be our strength,” the PSG star stated.

“Sometimes they are disordered when they lose the ball and they left many spaces,” he added.

The ex-Barcelona playmaker, who has won seven Ballon D’or  titles, also spoke about how much Argentina’s World Cup run in Qatar and semi-final win over Croatia means to the people around him.

“To see these people, the family thought the World Cup was something incredible,” he explained, “And we are where we wanted to be.

“We started off losing but we asked the people to stay confident with us because we knew,” he said of his side’s talents.

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What It Means to Messi

Messi went on to explain how close and tightly-knit the current Argentina squad are in pursuit of the World Cup crown.

“This group is crazy, we did it,” Messi said, “It makes me think of my family.

“It’s the best for me,” he continued, “We had tough times but we got the chance to experience something spectacular tonight.”

Argentina began this year’s World Cup with a shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia. Though the South American side came into the tournament on a long unbeaten streak and were amongst the favorites, the surprise defeat left many wondering if they were capable of getting close to the grand finale.

Messi, who scored Argentina’s goal from the spot in that game, explained after the Croatia match that the defeat taught his team a lesson.

“I would say the first match was a hard blow for all of us after being unbeaten for 26 matches,” he said.

“We didn’t think we would lose against Saudi Arabia so to start that way was an acid test for our squad but we have proved how strong we are,” he explained.

Gary Neville’s Reaction to Messi Performance

Analysts and fans alike were highly impressed with Messi’s wonderous display against Croatia. On ITV, pundit Gary Neville appeared to be excited by the star’s performance.

“It does feel like a mission to him, the World Cup, doesn’t it?” Neville said.

“And the rest of his team are so collective around him in terms of how they’re playing, they’re almost saying we’re going to keep a clean sheet, be horrible to play against, we’re going to do everything right then he’ll go and win us the game, he’ll do something, and that’s what is happening.”

 


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