By: Austin Fang

On Saturday, December 3rd, 2022, Argentina overtook Australia in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup hosted in Qatar. The first goal of the game was scored by Lionel Messi, raising the pressure from Argentina’s shoulders and sending them off to play the Netherlands in their next game.

Messi is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, soccer players of all time. However, there is one thing he has yet to do: win a world cup. This year, however, Messi could have a chance, advancing to the quarterfinals. However, winning the cup is no easy task, as they may have to play Brazil, as well as France and Spain, if they make the finals. However, after the win, Argentina seems like a strong team who might have enough firepower to take the trophy.

Argentina and Messi dominated possession of the ball most of the game against Australia. Messi’s shiftiness and IQ allowed him to find any open area in the field to fire and score.

As the 35th minute came along, Alexis MacAllister passed the ball to Nicholas Otemendi, who quickly passed it to Messi, who dribbled and fired it into the bottom right corner through an Australian defender’s legs. The stands, mostly filled with light blue and white Argentina flags, leapt to their feet and celebrated the goal. Messi ran to the corner and his teammates surrounded him.

“Impressive,” commented forward Julian Alvarez in Spanish when talking about Messi. “Not just the goal but his performance during the entire game and the last minutes were important, too. It doesn’t surprise us. We know Leo and we’ll always do our best to support him.”

Argentina’s lead doubled in the 57th minute, when Argentina pressed up and caused a steal, forcing the goalkeeper to come up, where Alvarez fired and hit the bottom left corner.

Argentina ended up winning 2-1, with Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez deflecting the ball off his face into his own goal in the 77th minute. Australia stepped up their attack, but thanks to great efforts by Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, they managed to keep their defense up and win.

“That’s the World Cup for you,” said Messi. “These matches are always difficult, but we got the win.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/03/sports/soccer/messi-argentina-world-cup.html