👑 Messi infinite ∞ Leo in tears, still driving Argentina at 39 | OneFootball

It’s the World Cup of champions — that much is clear. Haaland, Mbappé, Kane: they’re all scoring, and they’re doing it constantly. But above all, Leo Messi. 

At 39, just turned, the Rosario phenomenon is once again making global headlines and driving Argentina into the World Cup quarter-finals. But what a glorious madness unfolded in Atlanta, with a comeback that already feels historic. Never before, in World Cup history, had a team managed to come back from three goals down in regular time from the 79th minute onward.

But this Argentina has the greatest player in history — someone capable of getting everything wrong that could possibly go wrong in the first half, only to then win it almost single-handedly with the kind of genius plays only he can produce.

👑 Long live the king

Nights like this extend not only a career, but a legend too. Leo’s tears speak volumes: at the final whistle, he couldn’t hold back the emotion after a comeback that perhaps even he had stopped believing in.

On days when we’ve seen similar scenes — Neymar in tears, Cristiano Ronaldo in tears — Leo’s tears make it crystal clear why Argentina’s No. 10 is still right there at the center of it all today. On one side, two players who no longer have anything left to offer top-level football and who, sad as it is to admit, dragged themselves into this World Cup. Neymar’s call-up by Ancelotti looked more like a political decision than a footballing one; CR7’s automatic starting spot probably spelled the end of Portugal’s dreams of glory.

Messi, on the other hand, no — he wasn’t carried along. He carried them. From the hat-trick on opening day against Algeria, to the two goals against Austria, all the way to today’s comeback. He has always been the extra man for this Argentina, not someone being kept around because of what he did in the past.

🙇?♂️ The group comes first

Proof of that came in the post-match images, showing an Argentina at the feet of its captain, literally carried in triumph. 

An emotional Scaloni underlined the strength of the group, which man for man is probably not the best-equipped squad at this World Cup, maybe not even the second-best, but it has a unity of purpose that the others simply do not possess. 

And when you add the Messi factor to all of that, it becomes clear why no one should underestimate this Argentina. It may no longer be as well-drilled as it was in Qatar, or as beautiful to watch as when Di Maria was still there, or even as young as it was four years ago. But it is still hungry — and it has an idol to follow. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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