Lionel Messi is running again
Lionel Messi is probably the last player you could describe as an unknown quantity. However, there were a few doubts in the weeks leading up to his sixth World Cup. How ready will it be? Will he be a regular player for Argentina? Approaching his 39th birthday, does he still have the energy and drive to dominate games at this level? It only took him 45 minutes to make all these questions look extremely silly. It wasn’t more than four minutes into the game when Messi was in their defensive third and was getting the ball back. A little later, he runs after the Algerian defenders. age? It’s just a number!
But should he have been fired?
Despite his brilliance and prodigious skill, there have been instances throughout his illustrious career where opponents, and certainly opposition fans, have claimed that Messi received special treatment from the referees. What is certain is that between his first and second goals against Algeria, he was lucky to stay on the field! A foul on Algeria captain Jesus Mandi, whose right leg and Achilles tendon were nicked by Messi, would have resulted in at least a yellow card and, arguably, a red card, but Polish referee Simon Marciniak settled for a free kick. Special treatment? At least it was a soft judgement. A yellow card was perhaps the most likely outcome, a red card secondary, but Messi was certainly lucky to escape the scene unpunished.
Who is Luca Zidane?
It is never easy to walk in your father’s footsteps. Especially when your father is one of the greatest footballers of all time. Luca Zidane, to be fair, has done this pretty well. He has been good enough to play for Real Madrid and has carved out a solid career for himself at some of Spain’s second-tier clubs. But his comparison with his father, French legend Zinedine, begins and ends with physical similarities. Zidane Jr. played for France at the youth level. He changed his nationality to Algeria last year. His performance at the Africa Cup of Nations convinced fans that his decision was the right one and not just a ploy by head coach Vladimir Petkovic to gain attention. Yet here, in his World Cup debut, wearing a mask after suffering a broken jaw in the spring, he had a night he needs to forget as soon as possible. On Messi’s first goal, the ball spun a little in the air, but he still could have shown a stronger performance on this stage. And the second goal was a huge mistake, simple and short. the third He had little chance of stopping it. We hope that the elder Zizou will have some comforting words for him in the coming days.
How good did Argentina look?
This is the third time that Argentina have entered the World Cup as the defending champions and the first time that they have not lost their first match as the defending champions. Argentina’s bitter defeats in 1982 and 1990 were part of a wider trend of spells that also included famous defeats by France, Spain and Germany. With a comfortable victory over Algeria, Argentina took a significant step towards the knockout stage. In a tournament where some of the contenders, notably Brazil and Spain, have not made convincing starts, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni will be more than happy with his side’s opening performance. If there are any questions about Messi’s over-reliance, they won’t bother him any more than they did in Qatar in 2022.
