The Lionel Messi World Cup obits were starting to be written. It’s a good bet that some were finalized. Egypt led Argentina 2-0 in a World Cup quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon, in the 79th minute. A new World Cup champion would be crowned. Fold Cristiano Ronaldo into the piece. On back-to-back days, the two defining players of the past 20 years would exit the World Cup stage, most likely for good, given their ages. End of an era.
Idiots. (Present company included.) All scribes who had to scrap their stories got what they deserved. Haven’t we all watched enough of Messi in our lifetime?
An amazing, wondrous Argentina comeback unfolded on the pitch in Atlanta. And as well as Egypt played in almost pulling off a monumental upset, and as sympathetic we can all feel for the players and fans of the Pharaohs, Messi’s continued presence at this World Cup, after that breathtaking 3-2 Argentina victory on Tuesday, feels like divine intervention.
At age 39, Messi now has eight goals in this World Cup, more than any other player entering the quarterfinals. He started the tournament off with his first career World Cup hat trick and has now bookended his effort with a goal that, if Argentina should go on to win back-to-back World Cups, will be revered in Buenos Aires and beyond for generations.
Yasser Ibrahim scored for Egypt in the 15th minute to give the Pharaohs the early advantage. Egypt keeper Mostafa Shoubir denied Messi a penalty kick goal in the 21st minute, making Messi the first player to miss two penalties in the same tournament (excluding shoot-outs). Despite that setback, Argentina kept knocking on the door going into halftime. But some stellar saves from Shoubir kept the Pharaohs ahead.