Argentina deserve to be World Champions, and Mexico helped with that.
Argentina are going to their sixth final after categorically defeating an always tough Croatian team. Out of 22 tournaments, this means that the Argentines play the final almost one in four times. Impressive record, but not surprising given the vast amount of gifted players that have seen their first rays of light in the South American nation: ‘Charro’ Moreno, Kempes, Zanetti, Di Stefano, Maradona, Messi, Pasarella, Sivori, and an incredibly long etcetera. All these names have marveled the eyes of those who’ve seen them.
It is surprising then, that before winning the last Copa America against archrivals Brazil just this last year, they were unable to conquer a major title since 1993. That summer, the Argentines, captained by Oscar Ruggeri and Coached by Alfio ‘Coco’ Basile, had a star studded team, despite Diego Maradona not being part of the squad. The likes of Batistuta, Simeone and Redondo put an end to the Mexican dream of winning the Copa America. El Tri had reached the final despite being the first time they played the tournament.
Almost thirty years have passed since a solitary penalty scored by Batistuta gave Argentina the edge against Mexico in that final. And it was against Mexico that Argentina played their most important game since the World Cup final against Germany in 2014. After losing against Saudi Arabia the game against Mexico was all or nothing for the South Americans. Unlike the loss against France in the round of 16 during the last World Cup in Russia, Argentina didn’t come as a clear favourite for the title that time around, and although they put up an impressive fight against the eventual champions, it seemed that Messi still had it in himself to play one more time for the chance to lift the World Cup. Against Mexico however, the pressure was on.
They came in as clear title contenders before losing to Saudi Arabia. They in fact were looking to match Italy in the largest unbeaten streak of all time with 36 games. Just like in 2002 with Marcelo Bielsa as coach, the title favourites were contemplating the idea of leaving the World Cup without even passing through the group stages. This coupled with the very high chance that this could be Messi’s last World Cup, at least in top shape, really meant that if Argentina wanted to hop in the train to World Cup glory, the game against Mexico really was their last chance, else they might have to wait another three decades to lift a title.
The first loss against Saudi Arabia had Mexicans in high spirits. A surprisingly good performance against Poland in their first game filled the Mexicans with confidence, they knew that if they could sharpen their attack, they could send Argentina home untimely early. The game itself was quite leveled. The North American team even played better and had the best chances during the first half. The second half however would bring the beginning of what would become Messi’s best performance for his home country in any tournament. Messi has been out of this world during this World Cup, and against Mexico with one goal and one assist, the Argentinean started to really settle down in Qatar. Mexico was only a taste of what was to come.
The irony is that Mexico could have looked for a draw and that would still have kicked Argentina out, but as soon as Messi scored the first goal, Martino put in Raul Jimenez and Uriel Antuna for Kevin Alvarez and Alexis Vega respectively, arguably two of the best men for Mexico. With the draw, Mexico was almost inside the round of 16. With Alvarado coming in for Lozano, Mexico lost its best attacker for a player who had been important for his teams in the local league, but who fell short with the national team at the world stage. And that desperation to get a goal caused the Mexican team to fall victim to another play by Messi and that second goal was what stopped Mexico from going to the round of 16, as the goal difference would become worse than Poland’s.
At the end of the game, the mood for Mexico was rather somber. The lack of scoring was proving to be its weakest point. Now they had to score three goals against the Saudis to even aspire to go through, the same Saudis that had beaten Argentina 2-0. As for Argentina, they were not out of the woods yet, they knew that they had to beat Poland or risk an early goodbye, but they came with renewed spirits and increasing confidence. And above all, Messi gave signs of still being the best on earth by a fair stretch. He started to look eerily similar to the player who marveled the world with Barcelona already ten years ago, only this time finally doing it for his national team.
And despite Messi turning this world cup into a catalogue of broken records, it is truly the whole team who has shown they have what it takes to be the third Argentinian team to lift the golden trophy. From that save by Martinez against Australia in the last minute to Julian Alvarez stepping up to the challenge of being Argentina’s number 9 to the rock solid midfield and everything in between, it is the team and the team’s solidarity and individual talent that have Argentina ‘one little step closer’, as Messi repeatedly says, to the World Cup glory. Incredible to think that Mexico could’ve put a stop to all that.
