Lionel Messi clearly loved Julian Alvarez’s goal as Argentina took charge of their World Cup clash with Croatia on Tuesday night. The Manchester City star doubled his side’s advantage with a wonderful solo effort in the 39th minute. And they’re now on the verge of reaching the final of the competition as a result.
Argentina had gone into their World Cup showdown with Croatia as strong favourites to make the final of the competition.
And they’ve taken charge of the showdown at the Lusail Stadium, with goals from Messi and Alvarez giving them the perfect start.
Messi opened the scoring in the 34th minute from the penalty spot after Alvarez had been fouled inside the box, blasting his effort into the top right corner.
And his team-mate then netted five minutes later, producing a remarkable solo run before firing past Dominik Livakovic in the Croatia goal.
In the immediate aftermath, Messi was beaming and celebrated with Alvarez – who was also grinning from ear to ear.
It speaks volumes, with the Paris Saint-Germain star clearly proud of the goal his friend produced – especially with Argentina now on the cusp of the final.
BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer was full of praise for Alvarez, saying: “Alvarez ran from the halfway line, Messi managed to get the ball to him.
“There were two or three defenders ahead of him, not one of them could get the contact on the ball that they wanted.
“The ball fell to him not once but twice and then he just clips it over the goalkeeper.
“What a run, what a finish.”
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