Argentina entered the FIFA World Cup 2022 as among the favourites the lift the trophy. Even though they have reached the finals, it wasn't a smooth journey for them into the summit clash. In fact, they had a nightmarish start to their campaign as they lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in their opening game, despite them taking the lead with the help of a goal from the spot from their talisman Lionel Messi.
What followed was fear among the fans and surely some change of plans for Lionel Scaloni as he made wholesale changes to his starting XI in the next game. Argentina slowly and steadily improved as the tournament progressed deeper into the competition and on Tuesday (Wednesday as per the Indian Standard Time), Argentina were the better team on display by some distance.
They breached the defences of Croatia, who had been pretty good in the tournament up until this time, but didn't have the tackles and challenges it needed to win possession back from Argentina. Although it was Julian Alvarez who scored a match-winning brace in a World Cup semifinal, it needed a pinch of Messi brilliance to set up the win for Argentina.
While Messi scored from the spot to put Argentina in the lead in semifinal, the fate of the match was decided when arguably the greatest playmaker cum goalscorer set up Julian Alvarez's second goal with a magical assist. Despite being surrounded by men in Croatian colours, Messi kept the ball in play and remained in absolute control before passing the ball to Alvarez who didn't miss out on the golden opportunity to tap it past the goalkeeper and take Argentina's goal tally to 3.
We're experiencing something spectacular: Messi
After the match, Messi asked his teammates to enjoy what he described as a "spectacular experience."
"Argentina are, once again, in the World Cup final. Enjoy it!" said Messi after the game.
"We've been through tough situations, other very good ones. Today we're experiencing something spectacular," he added.
La Albiceleste will meet the winner of the second semifinal match between France and Morocco in the summit clash on Sunday, December 18.