There was no new unnerving World Cup night. Croatia were worse than Argentina in the semi-finals, who offered the magic of Messi and the red-hot support of Julian Alvarez.
Total silence for half an hour.
Then came the discharge causing the erosion of gold throughout Argentina. First, Leo Messi scored a solid penalty and minutes later fellow striker Julian Alvarez rushed in to make it 2-0 after a direct attack from midfield.
When the same duo flashed in the second half, everything was clear. Messi was unstoppable in his progress in the penalty area and Alvarez punctuated the semi-final with his second goal of the night.
– Messi basically deceives Joško Guardiol. This is a classy goal, a classic World Cup goal. Croatia had no response to that pairing tonight, Yle Sporten commentator Chriso Vuojärvi exclaimed on the live broadcast.
The 3-0 victory means Messi’s men are just one win away from gold which would finally make him a Diego Maradona-level house god in his homeland.
– We asked people to believe in us, because this band is amazing. And we did it, we will play the World Cup final again, Messi said on Argentine television after securing his second career final berth.
“Croatia in shock”
In back-to-back World Cup tournaments, Croatia have made a name for themselves as the tough team who force games into extra time and penalties – and once there, clashes kill. Tonight the air ran out early from the Croatians.
– Croatia ended up in some kind of shock. They seem to be just standing and thinking about what’s going on around them, noted pundit Kasper Hämäläinen after his first-half double goal.
Julian Alvarez was diverted in the situation that gave Argentina a penalty.
Image: Kieran McManus/Shutterstock/All Over Press
Argentina men’s national football team
The Argentine strike pair proved too difficult for the silver medalists from Russia.
It was Alvarez who repaired the penalty after a collision with goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Alvarez himself was responsible for a 50m carry with the ball for the 2-0 goal.
But most of it was about Messi. The unassailable penalty lifted him to the top of the scoring charts with five goals and makes him Argentina’s World Cup top scorer with a total of eleven goals.
Rare big victory in the semifinals
Alvarez’s second of the evening, in turn, came after Messi’s magic on the edge of the penalty area. Joško Gvardiol was one of the best defenders in the tournament, but when Messi’s feet rang, the 20-year-old became a spectator.
3-0 was a rare undisputed result in the semifinals at the World Cup. Of the 16 semi-finals scheduled tonight, only one had ended in a victory by two goals or more: Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in 2014.
– Today we saw how the Croatian ability manifested itself, said expert Juho Rantala in the Yle studio.
– At the same time, it is a great flagship of Argentina. After the first 20 minutes you were very good on many fronts.
Thus, Argentina can chase a follow-up to the 1978 and 1986 World Cup gold. The final opposition becomes clear in Wednesday’s meeting between France and Morocco.
Argentina were favorites for gold before the tournament and in the championship itself much revolved around the Albiceleste.
On Sunday, Lionel Messi becomes the all-time world champion (26), has a chance to avenge his final defeat eight years ago – and has a golden opportunity to solidify his position in the debate over football’s greatest ever.
