Messi’s World Cup goal streak ends, assist helps Argentina defeat Switzerland 3-1
In the 10th minute of the match, in the second half, Messi needed the help of his coach after receiving a blow to his right eye, and helped win the corner kick with his stylish footwork. From there the Inter Miami star sent a perfect ball into the box and Alexis Mac Allister was there to slot it in for a 1-0 lead.
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Switzerland equalized in the 67th minute and the match went to extra time, but in the 112th minute Julian Alvarez sent a rocket into the top corner of the goal and Lautaro Martinez added the closing goal for good measure for the defending champions.
Argentina will now face England in the semi-finals in Atlanta on Wednesday.
One of the first questions asked to Swiss coach Murat Yakin before the match was how he would stop Messi, who had scored goals in the last nine matches of the World Cup and the last six matches of the qualifying round. He also holds the tournament record with 21 career goals.
“This is a very surprising question,” Yakin replied jokingly. “There are many solutions, and we will try to find the best solution. … We can talk about it a lot, but ultimately it really needs to be reflected on the field, and we have solutions.”
In fact, the Swiss did a good job of keeping the dynamic striker under control.
Messi started his World Cup excitement in the same building three weeks ago; He scored his first hat-trick of the tournament as he sent Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Algeria. He had scored eight goals as his team reached the quarter-final round.
However, not everything went smoothly for Messi during the World Cup. He missed penalty kicks against both Austria and Egypt, and the latter could have ended in disaster given Argentina found themselves in a 2-0 hole.
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But it was Messi who put Argentina into the game by assisting Cristian Romero’s header in the 79th minute, and it was the cool-headed and timeless attacking midfielder who equalized the score by beating Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir four minutes later.
Enzo Fernandez eventually provided the winner in injury time to send Argentina through to a draw against Switzerland.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said, “He is like a machine” about Messi, whose last match he played for the national team in every World Cup match could be. “Those who don’t know him very well may be surprised, and at 39 years old, some people may think that he won’t be up to this challenge. But I’ve said this before, as long as he wants to be the best – and I’m not saying this because I’m coaching him – but because he will continue to be the best if he wants to continue.”
