There is only one place to start. Lionel Messi’s shot from distance found the perfect trajectory from where he was to the back of the net, with geometric perfection to beat Guillermo Ochoa’s dive. We were all fortunate to have commentator Peter Drury on air: “That’s what they came for. The Magic Man. [Pause] One. More. Messi. Moment. And Argentina are alive.”
Indeed the near 90,000 who came to watch that moment at Lusail Stadium – and we have to include even the Mexico fans here – were lucky to witness one more moment of magic from one of the greatest footballers. But even for those of us watching it far away in our respective living rooms, the voice and words of Drury made the moment special. Irrespective of one’s allegiances, you felt something inside you... for some extreme joy, for some a sense of satisfaction, for many goosebumps all over.
For a large part of the night, the high notes were hit before a ball was kicked. When the two teams sang their national anthems, with thousands joining from the stands, you felt something electric was in store. But despite a lot of huffing and puffing from both sides, there was very little end product. A lot of energy was being expended, the efforts were full on... it just wasn’t leading to much. So much so that a pointless nutmeg right at the halfway line down the near flank late in the second half received loud and sustained cheers from the crowd. We were starved for moments of quality.
What was Messi feeling then, one wondered. Here was a guy who has produced these moments over and over, year after year, for club and country. Some stand out more than others, of course. Where would this rank? What was going through his head all night when he was marked and double-marked and triple-marked? How was he going to come up with the key to pick the locked Mexican defence coupled with the aggression in their tackling and desire to win second balls and just suffocate La Albiceleste’s forward play? What was he thinking when the clock was ticking down in the match, and possibly on Argentina’s campaign? A defeat on the night would have meant Messi’s World Cup would end with a dead rubber. Was he even thinking that far?
Yes, we will never know the answers to these. Not really. But you wondered anyway as the match meandered.
Then came the first outpour of emotions from the Argentinian No 10.
Receiving a pass from Angel Di Maria, Messi cushioned the ball with a genius first touch. We have already written about the joy of a good first-touch... and where Messi is concerned, you can’t find words to do justice. The aerial angle of the goal went viral on social media in the minutes after the match and you could see in that how the control was so perfect that anywhere else, the onrushing defender would have closed him down. He had found the space to get the shot away and it beat Ochoa to his left with unerring precision. There were a total of four passes to Messi from Di Maria but none more so important than that.
He roared, as fans roared along with him. It was raw. It was also relief. Unmistakable pride, but also you could sense the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. And as he was mobbed by his teammates, it also provided relief to Argentina fans world over.
Soon after, though, he would smile. There was no mistaking how he was feeling then. All he had done was make a simple pass to Enzo Fernandez. That was the only pass from Messi to Fernandez on the night, and it produced one of the goals of the tournament. He earned an assist to his name, but the goal was all about the Benfica midfielder. Receiving the ball from the great man, the 21-year-old first produced a quick stepover as he was cutting in from the left. And then he curled one delightfully into the top corner. And Messi was beaming. With pride. With joy.
For the man who carries so much burden and scrutiny every time he wears the blue and white, this almost seemed cathartic because he watched a young man step up and produce a moment of magic... he knows a thing or two about it after all.
And so on a dreary night of football, two moments of quality stood out. Messi’s strike from distance provided the spark to Argentina’s campaign that was so desperately needed. His simple pass to Fernandez then resulted in sealing the deal... La Albiceleste keep their tournament alive. It is just one win, there is a long way to go to realise the ultimate dream that they arrived in Qatar with. But it gave us all our “Messi moment,” and then it gave Messi an Enzo golazo to perhaps feel what we feel when he does it.
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