Lionel Messi, the world’s best forward stepped up to save the day once again for his country as Argentina defeated Iran, courtesy of a spectacular injury time goal in the 91st minute by the little man. The South American nation’s advances towards the goal were foiled numerous times by a stubborn Iranian defense that left no stone unturned in keeping Alejandro Sabella’s side frustrated virtually the whole of the game. All that Messi and Co. needed was a tiny momentary lapse, a small misjudgment on Iran’s part to take the victory home.
Captain Messi was very well guarded through the length of the game by the Asian team giving him no breathing room to work his quick feet. He even went ahead a couple times only to be robbed off of the ball by the Iranian defenders. But as time progressed Iran thought they almost had the draw and eased their selves a little bit while Messi was still eagerly waiting for his chance to pounce on the ball. And he did with an assist from Ezequiel Lavezzi into the bottom left corner with a powerful left footer as he scored a spectacular goal to put his team into the Last 16 stage of the tournament.
Messi described scoring his goal saying “As soon as I got the ball at the end we were all in attack because we wanted to put Argentina through with a win. Obviously I was very happy with the strike and then I heard people screaming and smiling.”
Here’s a tiny dissemination of match overview showing Messi’s involvement.
Shots attempted 5
Pass Accuracy 92%
Chances Created 5
Crosses 3
Tackles Won 56%
Aerial Duels Won 25%
Take-ons 13
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