In the 65th minute, Lionel Messi started running through the Australian midfield triangle like a cheetah with the ball from the midfield. That run was so beautiful that it looked like the Australian players were giving way to Messi in salute. Then Julián Álvarez got into the opponent's defense with the ball.
Although Messi's solo run didn't ultimately lead to a goal, the crowd did not fail to give a standing ovation to Messi's magic. Messi is such a magician, he woke up in one run from Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium to Karwan Bazar in Dhaka.
Of course, Messi had already done the work. When Australia's defense kept the entire Argentinian attack, including Messi, in check, the Argentine captain took it upon himself to break the deadlock. Argentina took the lead in the 35th minute of the match with his goal. It was Messi's first goal in the knockout stages of the World Cup. And this was the 1000th match of Messi's career for both club and national team.
The other goal was a gift from the Australian goalkeeper after the Argentinian magician advanced. Julián Alvarez took the gift. However, Australia scared Argentina with a great goal at the end. However, the end was not saved. Socceroos run stopped in the second round. Argentina won the match 2–1.
Before the match on this day, Australia said not to be afraid of Argentina. There was that impression at the beginning of the match as well. They started the game by keeping their positions on the field without coming down like Poland. Argentina were trying to attack with pass after pass. But keeping focus, Australia was not giving much chance to Argentina.
Socceroos had an eye not only to stop Lionel Messi, but also to attack. They went up a few times and tested the Argentine defense. And because of Australia's strategy, Argentina could not go all-out attack even if they wanted to.
In the first 30 minutes of the match, Argentina could not take more than one shot despite keeping 61 percent of the ball. That shot was not on target either. Messi was trying to break Australia's defense by attacking from both wing and mid. But Australia's backline was adamant.
Finally, in the 35th minute, Messi came forward and broke the Australian defense. His first attempt came back from Australia's d-box, but in that attack, Messi put Argentina ahead with a great ground-biting shot from inside the d-box.
The desired goal was finally found. Lionel Messi scored a goal in the World Cup knockout for the first time. Argentina took the lead in the 35th minute of the match against Australia with the goal of the Argentine magician.
Earlier, Messi scored 8 goals in the World Cup, but none of them were in the knockout stages. All of them did in the group stage of the World Cup. However, he did not score a goal in the knockouts of the World Cup but assisted in 4. Argentina goes to the break with this 1 goal lead.
113.759 SRY