LUSAIL, Qatar (Reuters) – Argentina captain Lionel Messi praised his side’s intelligence after beating Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals.
Argentina overwhelmed Croatia, who had won their last two games even though they were entangled on penalties. Messi opened the scoring with a first-half penalty, after which Julián Alvarez scored twice to win 3-0.
“We are an intelligent team, capable of reading the flow of the game, putting up with it when necessary, assessing the situation and pressing,” Messi said in the post-match press conference. “We knew there would be space behind them at times,” he said.
Messi took advantage of the space in front and set up Alvarez’s second goal with a pass from the goal line. “It’s great fun and I’m in good shape,” said Messi, who tied Frenchman Kylian Mbappé for first place with five goals in the tournament.
Argentina, who are chasing their third world title, will face the winner of France-Morocco in the final on Sunday.
