Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday, ensuring that Lionel Messi's lifelong ambition of leading his country to World Cup triumph will continue to this day in Qatar 2022.
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Argentina took a dominating lead into halftime thanks to two first-half goals—the first a Messi penalty and the second a solo effort from Julian Alvarez—and Croatia never seemed to be able to catch up.
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With Argentina's third goal in the second half, which came after a superb Messi assist, Alvarez gave his side and the 35-year-old captain a chance to put the 2014 final failure behind them and win Argentina's first World Cup trophy since 1986.
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Even though Messi is approaching the end of his career and his near superhuman abilities are certainly waning, the small magician can still produce brilliant moments when his country most needs them.
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According to the Argentine embassy in Qatar, up to 40,000 Argentina fans may have flown to Qatar for this World Cup, and it seems that all of them were present at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.
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The Argentina bench and coaching staff started to join in with the rhythmic songs and chants that were being shouted from the bleachers as the game moved deeper into injury time and it became clear that Argentina would win.
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It's hard to imagine that Argentina is the same team that dropped its initial group stage encounter, 2-1, to Saudi Arabia just three weeks prior. That performance was so lacklustre and uninspiring that some questioned if Argentina would even advance past the group stage.
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Messi responded "Yes" when asked if Sunday's match will be his final in a World Cup. Of course. Since I don't think I have it in me and there are still many years till the next one, finishing this way is preferable.
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"[I feel] quite happy to have been able to accomplish this. to play my final game in a World Cup final to cap my tournament career. Everything I've experienced during this World Cup, what other people have gone through, and how much the Argentinean population is loving it all are all extremely emotional.
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"I'm having a great time with everything, and I feel strong enough to take on each match. We've advanced by making a number of significant sacrifices, such as playing during the extra time, which wasn't simple. Although we were exhausted, the team gave just a little bit more; it was a very difficult game that went as planned.