Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
It fit the occasion. Argentina and Croatia, two modern football powerhouses, faced off in the FIFA World Cup’s first semifinal in Qatar’s Lusail Stadium in front of a packed audience. However, one man and one phenomenon, Lionel Messi stole the show.
Messi scored one goal and assisted on two more as Argentina easily dispatched Croatia 3-0, allowing their star player a shot at immortality.
Even though the score looks good, the South American team was slow to start the game. Argentina changed two things from their last game, which was against the Netherlands. Nicolas Tagliafico and Leandro Parades joined the team in place of Marcos Acuna, who was suspended, and Lisandro Martinez, a defender for Manchester United.
On the other hand, Croatia’s team was the same one that beat Brazil on penalties. Scaloni changed the way the team played to make it harder for the midfield of Kovacic, Modric, and Brozovic to pass through the midfield of Casemiro and Paqueta of Brazil.
Argentina played a midfield four with MacAllister, Enzo, Paredes and de Paul attempting to stop the tank of a Croatian midfield. During the first half-an-hour of the game, Croatia looked compact and the midfield three managed to gobble up most of the Argentine transitions.
In the 25th minute, Enzo Fernandez hit a beautiful shot from outside the penalty box that forced Livakovic to make the first save of the game.
Messi’s men will now look to earn Argentina their third World Cup trophy as they take on the winners of Morocco vs France game on Sunday. This will be Argentina’s sixth appearance in the World Cup finals.
