Instead of being under pressure in the unwritten final, Argentina has given offensive football to the nine seven four stadiums. Poland did not pay any attention to them. Lionel Messi has made it to the last sixteen as a champion from the ‘C’ group.
Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 in the last match of the group stage on Wednesday (November 30). Alexis McAllister and Julian Alvarez scored the winning goals for Albiceleste.
But Lionel Messi’s expression after the penalty miss said it all. The hero is now going to be a villain! Voychek Sejny saved the penalty by declaring. Messi went to break with that nightmare. Messi may have given a special message to his teammates during that break.
Who knows, maybe he said to color the day for him today. So maybe another form to return to the field! Argentina took less than a minute to break down the Polish wall. McAllister took the first responsibility to repay their debt to Messi. As soon as the goal came, the Argentine gallery came back to life, and the Diego Maradona poster in the hands of the spectators also came back to life. And going forward, Argentina should be sharper.
Anyway, on the other hand, the Poles were busy handling the defense. They were so helpless that the 6 minutes added on at the end of the match were referred to by commentators as 6 hours of misery for Poland.
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But as luck helped them, they also reached the next round. In the other group match, Saudi Arabia gifted Poland a ticket to the last sixteen with an extra-minute goal against Mexico at the Lucille Stadium. Mexico was eliminated due to the difference in goal difference with the same 4 points as the Poles in the 2-1 victory. Saudi Arabia has been eliminated from the tournament with 3 points.
Earlier, the defense of Poland was disorientated by one attack after another by Argentina. 12 of Albiceleste’s 23 shots were on target. They have 74 percent of the ball possession. In contrast, none of the 4 shots taken by the Polish were on target. This statistic tells how much Messi dominated the match. And how helpless the Lewandowskis were. However, if Ceshni was not in the Polish goal, the Albiceleste would have left the field with a flood of goals.
Robert Lewandowski could not make any advantage in the first 20 minutes of Messi’s attack one after the other. After that, however, the Poles raised some hope with each attack. However, their shot from the free kick was not on target. A minute later they got another free kick, but the Poles couldn’t convert it either. They have to be satisfied with this much in the first half.
Scaloni’s disciples continued the one-sided attack throughout the rest of the period. In the 28th minute, the shot of Julian Alvarez in the D-box was turned away by Voychekh Seshni. But the ball goes to the feet of an unguarded Acuna. His powerful shot missed the net for a while.
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In the 33rd minute of the match, Di Maria’s cross from a corner was headed straight for the bar; However, Seshni blocked the ball in return for a corner. A minute later Messi’s shot from outside the D box went over the post. Julián Alvarez failed to beat Seshni in a one-on-one position in the next minute. Then the Polish goalkeeper again resisted Messi’s head with great skill.
However, while moving the ball, he hit Messi on the head, and the match referee gave a penalty to the VR check at the request of the Argentines. But this time too, Messi lost to Seshani’s skill. His left-footed shot was blocked by the Polish goalkeeper by jumping to the left. After returning Alvarez’s shot in the D box, he also returned De Paul’s shot in a one-to-one position. Despite attacking one after another, Messi had to leave the field in the first half after losing to Sesni.
McAllister put away Albiceleste’s disappointment after the break. The midfielder took possession of Nahuel Molina’s pass on the right side and entered the D-box with a perfect shot. This time, Seshni could no longer protect the Polish. Poland could have equalized in the next minute. Kamil Glick headed a teammate’s cross from a free kick into the Argentinian D box. But he barely put the ball in the net.
In the 59th minute of the match, Scaloni brought on Leandro Paredes after Di Maria and Nicolas Tagliafico after Acuna. A minute later, McAllister had a great chance to score in the D-box but handed the ball to Seshni. But Alvarez was not wrong. In the 68th minute, Julián Alvarez shook the net with a strong shot after receiving the ball in the D box. He was assisted by Enzo Fernandez.
After 3 minutes, Messi wasted another chance to score. A minute later, in a one-on-one position, Alvarez’s shot missed the target. Argentinians had to leave the field with a 2-0 victory despite attacking one after another. And with 6 points, Messi has passed to the last sixteen as the champion of the ‘C’ group.