Speaking first about the goal by Messi, Di Maria called his pass to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner a “turd,” but he still made the best of it, as he always does.
The time has come, and the man has arrived! Lionel Messi rose to the occasion and scored a stunning goal from outside the penalty box to give Argentina a 1-0 lead. Argentina needed to defeat Mexico to improve their chances of making the Round of 16 of the tournament. Fans all over the world have praised Messi for his spectacular goal. Having discovered a weakness in Mexico’s defense against his team, Angel di Maria, the man credited with setting up Messi’s incredible goal, has revealed how the Argentina captain planned the goal.
Prior to Messi’s stunning goal against the Mexicans, Argentina was having trouble producing quality chances. Later, Enzo Fernandes scored a looping goal from the left corner of the box to give his team a 2-0 victory.
Speaking first about the goal by Messi, Di Maria called his pass to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner a “turd,” but he still made the best of it, as he always does.
According to the former Real Madrid player, “I gave him a turd, but he always finds solutions to everything,” La Nacion reported. The fact that the ball reached him is what counts.
Di Maria added that Messi had recognized the chance to exploit a defensive weakness in Mexico’s strategy. He urged his teammates to pass the ball to him in a certain scenario so he could score. The Argentina captain scored when that opportunity presented itself.
Di Maria stated, “We had chatted a minute before [the goal].” He claimed that because they were falling deep and narrowly inside the space, a space would appear in front of them to attempt to give it to him there. I awaited that opportunity and provided it to him at that time. And he made a fantastic goal. I am at a loss for words. Leo is everything to me because I had the opportunity to play with the finest player in the world at the club level and for 14 years with the national team.
After a long, exhausting night, Di Maria added, “We had planned this. “We anticipated the first 45 minutes would be quite challenging. Mexico was aware that a draw might be acceptable given their final game is against Saudi Arabia, where they have a chance to win. We expected the second half to be more open, and that is exactly what happened.”
Argentina and Messi still have work to do in the group stage. There is still the matchup with Poland. La Albiceleste’s advancement into the knockout rounds would be guaranteed by a win over the Robert Lewandowski-led team. Their campaign would be over if they lost.