The Atlanta Stadium is the new Azteca for Argentina, a stage of legendary comebacks and illogical victories for posterity. Mysticism and heart embraced again to give Messi and the albiceleste an extra life. There is no team that survives better on the edge. There is no national team that resists more when everything is against it. Messi does not want to leave and his teammates do not let him go. In the chaos, Argentina reigns. Ordered Spain should beware in the final, the albiceleste can never be counted out. No one beats madness.
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In the longest World Cup, Scaloni’s boys always have one more bullet left. Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez scored but MacAllister and Nico González could have done it earlier because England fell back and was unable to defend their lead with their theoretical strong point, the area, high balls and crosses. Their legs trembled when they saw the avalanche coming from a wing that plays with a machete.
They always have one more bullet
In a duel with a lot of symbolic weight, Messi’s boys bring out all their faith when they find themselves a goal down
The morbid match could be measured in amperes, watts, volts and hertz to calculate the power, electricity and energy on the pitch. Faced with such undeniable symbolic weight, the match struggled to open up, as often happens in duels between bitter rivals.
Four decades after the events at the Azteca and 28 years after the St. Étienne remake, the players came out overexcited and hyperventilating as if they had faced each other two months ago and had several disputes to resolve. Everyone seemed to have bills to collect, and like that, so revved up, it is almost impossible to play football.
With Beckham in the stands – and also Mick Jagger – Scaloni wanted to play the Giuliano card knowing that if there is a surname, apart from Maradona’s, that really annoys the English it is Simeone’s. To do this, he dismantled his ideal midfield and benched De Paul. On the right wing, Cholito ran a lot but almost always to clash and not to get free.
More than creating and building, the priority was to annoy and bother. In that scenario, a player like Messi suffered and had to touch the ball more with his chest or head than with his feet and that is always bad news for Argentina and for football.
England started the first half better, with a couple of runs from Spence and James – the new English fullbacks – but their crosses were easy for Dibu Martinez. And Argentina finished better.
Finally Tuchel decided that man-marking Messi was not necessary but the first time the ten could face up he was brought down by Anderson, who got a yellow card, and Spence. The start of the action, near the center of the pitch, beating Kane and nutmegging Gordon, had echoes of Diego’s play in ’86. But Leo was not allowed to advance much further. To the ground.
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In semifinals there is no room for poetry. Just as shortly after Lisandro also grabbed Rogers to stop a counterattack. No one was going to give anything away. And, on the other hand, everything was demanded, even the unbelievable from an American referee who struggled to keep the peace.
The albiceleste wanted, as Scaloni had asked, to rediscover the football of Qatar and after the break tried to test Pickford. It was Julián Álvarez, a smart boy, who best interpreted how to hurt the English defense by slipping between the fullback and the center back. But the goalkeeper saved both his shots.
Argentina thought it was their moment and was wrong. Because they neglected a quick transition, the trademark of the Three Lions with Tuchel. Kane dropped back to receive and sent a long ball with the opponent open, unprotected. Tagliafico cut it acrobatically but the rebound went to Rice who, without wasting time, found Rogers on the right. His scepter was not for Bellingham or Kane, who didn’t even enter the area, but for the fast Gordon at the far post. The Barça signing, arriving from behind, perfectly beat a poorly positioned Nahuel Molina. Gordon’s close-range finish was impossible for Dibu.
Tuchel’s defensive changes
In a quick counterattack, Gordon puts the English ahead, whose legs trembled in the final stretch
The goal would have sunk many teams but if there is any irredeemable team capable of getting up a thousand times it is this Argentina, which is not easily knocked down. When things are worst, it refuses to give up, fights harder, attacks with more conviction, throws itself with more ambition.
Spence celebrated a tackle in the area on Giuliano as if it were a goal to prevent him from shooting. It was the sign that Messi’s boys were going all out. Argentina was on fire, with Messi as the general captain of all the attacks. Pickford seemed to have four arms because he reached everything and the posts also helped him.
Another crazy ending
Enzo Fernández equalizes with a great shot five minutes from the end and Lautaro, from a Messi cross, heads the decisive goal in the 92nd minute
But the more difficult it got, the more heart and faith the Argentines put in, who got the equalizer with a great shot from Enzo Fernández, who shot with his soul, his own and that of the fans.
There were five minutes left and if this team has something it is that it smells blood, that once it starts it does not want to stop. It happened against Egypt and also against England. It was not going to let it slip away when it had them in the corner, minimized by Tuchel’s defensive changes. MacAllister hit the post again but the rebound fell to Messi, who recycled the play to assist Lautaro, the emergency number nine, who headed into the net in the small area in the 92nd minute. Argentina is immortal. Messi is infinite and will play the final on Sunday against the country that welcomed him.
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