Published on 14 Dec 2022 10:59 am (UK Time)
Former Chelsea player John Terry showered praise on Lionel Messi as the 7-time Ballon D’Or winner put up a stellar performance against Croatia in the World Cup Semifinals.
The Semi-finals of the World Cup saw favorites Argentina taking on underdogs Croatia in a match that had in store a lot of excitement as both the teams looked to outclass each other in order to book a place in the final. While both the teams had a strong lineup on paper Argentina were the one who triumphed as they breezed past Croatia with a 3-0 victory.
A goal from Lionel Messi in the 34th minute from the spot and a double from Julian Alvarez in the 39th and 69th minute respectively helped La Albiceleste cruise past former World Cup finalists Croatia. Argentina has reached their 6th World Cup final which is a unique record in itself as only three other countries have appeared in more than 5 finals (Germany has reached the finals eight times, Brazil has reached the finals seven times and Italy has reached the final six times ).
While there have been a lot of conversations revolving around the entire Argentinian team the spotlight has been on Lionel Messi as he has had an impressive campaign so far in the World Cup. The 35-year-old’s goal against Croatia helped him become La Albiceleste’s all-time top scorer in the World Cup with 11 goals, the PSG talisman has racked up 5 goals and 3 assists in 6 appearances for them which has now made him a favorite to scoop up the player of the tournament award.
Messi’s stellar performance against Croatia has helped him earn a tremendous amount of praise from pundits and former players. John Terry was one of the former players amazed by Messi’s performance and he took to Twitter to call him the greatest of all time (GOAT).
“Phenomenal 🐐 That is some performance tonight from Messi 🇦🇷⚽️”
Messi scooped up the player of the match award as he scored from the spot as well as set up Julian Alvarez’s second goal. Reflecting on the victory Messi said
“I am enjoying this World Cup a lot. I am feeling really good and strong enough to face anything,”
“It wasn’t easy. We were tired but we found our strength to earn the victory. We finished the game in a very good way and I feel very happy now.
“This squad goes beyond the collective. It’s intelligent and clever. We can read games and we know how to suffer when necessary and what to do with the ball when it’s needed. We have played excellent technical football”.
Argentina will now look to win the final as they eye World Cup glory however they will be eager to know who they would face between France and Morroco.
