On June 17, Beijing time (CEST), in a FIFA World Cup group stage match, Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0, with Messi scoring a hat-trick. After the match, TA summarized the key points of the game.

The report states that football is still Lionel Messi's world, and we all still live in it.

The 38-year-old Messi participated in his sixth FIFA World Cup. In the match held in Kansas City, he scored a hat-trick, helping Argentina achieve a 3-0 victory over Algeria. His total FIFA World Cup goals now match German legend Miroslav Klose, making him the joint-highest scorer in men's FIFA World Cup history.

As defending champions, Argentina delivered an impressive opening match performance, leaving no doubt that Messi will continue to break his own FIFA World Cup record of 16 goals in this tournament.

Messi Dominates the Field Again

Looking at the world of football, whenever Messi is mentioned, no one would consider him a player with fluctuating form or unpredictable impact. However, before this, his sixth FIFA World Cup officially began, and many concerns and doubts had persistently circulated among the public and fan communities.

Many quietly wondered: Can Messi, who has competed for so many years, still handle the demands of such an intense tournament? Is he still the undisputed core starter in the Argentina team? As he approaches his 39th birthday, will age wear him down, causing him to lose stamina and impact, and no longer be able to dictate the pace of play and control the overall situation on football's greatest stage?

Yet Messi, with just 45 minutes of first-half play, completely dispelled all these reasonable doubts, making all skeptics realize that these concerns were entirely unfounded and appear remarkably shallow and absurd.

Just four minutes into the match, Messi actively dropped deep into his own half, sharply anticipating and regaining the ball with clean interception, retrieving possession for his team. Shortly after, when Algeria launched a counterattack, he desperately raced back at full speed, relentlessly pursuing Algeria's defender without letting up in his pressing effort.

Throughout this period, Messi was nimble and aggressive, no longer running slowly as he has in recent years; every sprint was filled with urgency.

When in possession, he remained full of precision: a curled shot beat Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane but was ruled out for offside; he played beautiful one-two passes with Thiago Almada and Rodrigo De Paul, completely stretching Algeria's defense. Soon after, the team's first goal arrived as expected.

Indeed, faced with Messi's extremely threatening shot, goalkeeper Luca Zidane failed to make an adequate save and had the chance to strongly block the ball away. However, a full review of this coherent attacking sequence clearly shows that the entire attacking flow was completely controlled by Messi: he first received the ball in midfield to orchestrate and advance play, tearing through the opponent's defense, and finally completed the final shot himself, simultaneously playing two crucial roles as both attack architect and goalscorer in the entire sequence.

Messi's performance continued into the second half: he delivered a wonderful pass, creating a goalscoring chance for Lautaro Martinez; in the 60th minute, he capitalized on a goalkeeper error to score his second goal. In the closing moments, he unleashed his signature curled shot from the edge of the penalty box, the ball floating into the bottom corner, completing his hat-trick.

The conclusion is clear: all doubts can be set aside, and football is still Messi's era.

The Controversial Moment: Should Messi Have Been Sent Off?

Despite Messi's extraordinary and unstoppable skill, throughout his illustrious career, opponents and even rival fans have repeatedly claimed that referees consistently give him special treatment.

What is certain is that between his first and second goals, Messi was extremely fortunate. When challenging for the ball, he stepped on Algeria captain Aissa Mandi's right calf and Achilles tendon. This action should have at minimum resulted in a yellow card, and possibly even a straight red card, but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak simply awarded Algeria a free kick without showing any card.

There are many suspicious aspects to this challenge: Mandi was in firm possession of the ball and moving slowly at the time, so Messi was not in a position to win it fairly. Yet he aggressively lunged with his boot raised, an action that is not only difficult to justify but also extremely dangerous.

Was the referee biased toward Messi? At minimum, the standard applied to this decision was too lenient. Most would consider a yellow card the minimum punishment, and even a straight red card would be justified. Messi was fortunate to escape without injury this time.

Who Is Luca Zidane?

Living in the shadow of your father has never been easy, especially when your father is a legendary football star.

Objectively, Luca Zidane, burdened by the aura of being a legend's son, has done quite well. He joined Real Madrid's youth academy in his early years and, after leaving the Bernabéu, steadily developed through several small and mid-sized Spanish clubs, building a stable and solid professional career. His choice of goalkeeping was wise; most outsiders only comment on his resemblance to his father and rarely compare his on-field performance to football royalty Zidane.

The 28-year-old Luca regularly represented France's youth teams at various levels during his early career before deciding to change his citizenship last year to officially play for Algeria. He delivered a stable and impressive performance at the Africa Cup of Nations, completely dispelling fans' doubts and proving that this naturalization was far more than just a publicity stunt by coach Petković.

However, this FIFA World Cup debut has been a nightmare for him: he suffered a broken jaw earlier this spring and had to wear a mask for this match. Although Messi's first shot was somewhat wayward, he should have been able to block it strongly; the second goal was a basic error, entirely his own fault as goalkeeper; as for the third curled shot, he was indeed powerless to save it.

We hope that legendary Zizou can comfort his son in the future.

How Impressive Was Argentina's Performance in This Match?

This was Argentina's third FIFA World Cup match as defending champions, and their first opening match victory as title holders.

Looking back at history, both Belgium in 1982 and Cameroon in 1990 defeated Argentina in their opening matches. In the football world, there are many examples of defending champions struggling: France lost to Senegal in 2002, Spain lost to the Netherlands in 2014, and Germany lost to Mexico in 2018. Of the six FIFA World Cups held this century, four defending champions were eliminated in the group stage.

By comfortably defeating Algeria, Argentina has taken a solid step toward the knockout rounds, with upcoming matches against Austria and Jordan. Many tournament favorites have had poor starts, including Brazil and Spain, so Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni must be very satisfied with his team's opening match performance.

There has always been concern about the team's over-reliance on Messi, but the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup has proven that this is no longer a concern.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.