QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP: Argentina restores hope as they beat Mexico 2 – 0
By Samson Adeyemo
Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina super star Lionel Messi’s excellent long distance strike and substitute Enzo Fernandez, late goal helped revive Argentina’s flagging World Cup hopes as they claimed a crucial 2-0 win over Mexico at the Lusail Stadium to move to second position in Group C.
Lionel Scolari’s team approached the game like their lives depended on the match, knowing a second defeat would mean elimination after their shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their first game and they kept the struggle until the 65th-minute when Lionel Messi struck from long-range to register the first goal.
Enzo Fernandez perfected the victory just three minutes to the end of the game when he received a pass from Messi, faked a defender to gain balance and curled a swift finish pass Mexican goal keeper Guillermo Ochoa.
In the post match press conference, Messi said
“Today another World Cup starts for Argentina,
“I tell people the same thing, that they continue to believe. Today we did what we had to do.
“We had no other choice. We had to win so that we depended only on ourselves.
“The first half we didn’t play as we should and in the second, when we calmed down, we started to play the ball better and after the goal we went back to being what we are.”
