Just a couple of days after former Premier League star Joe Cole predicted England would reduce Lionel Messi to rubble in the World Cup semifinal, the Argentina icon responded the only way he knows to respond to insults — by letting his game talk.
It was Messi’s playmaking that inspired Argentina to stage a stirring fightback to complete a 2-1 victory over England and book a place in Sunday’s final against Spain.
The prospects are alluring now, the defending world champions will be up against the reigning European champions who blew France, the tournament favourites, away in the first semifinal.
But when the England media and their former players were dissecting Argentina’s game ahead of the second semifinal, most of them had no doubt in their minds that the likes of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham would be too strong for the South Americans who had struggled to find their top form in the previous knockout games.
“We are going to put him (Messi) to bed,” Cole said on The Rest Is Football.
Former England stars Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, the other guests on the popular show, were surprised by Cole’s bold statement.
“You can’t say that,” Richards responded.
But the former Chelsea and England star tightened the screw even more.
“No, I’m saying it now. We’ve got the pace to deal with Argentina’s strengths. We’re going to reach the World Cup final. I can feel it in my bones,” he said.
Among the other ex-England stars who wrote off Messi’s Argentina were Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes.
Rooney, Shearer and Scholes are all Premier League legends and each of them gave their predictions professionally.
Cole, on the other hand, went to the extent of ridiculing a player — Messi — who had scored eight goals in the tournament.
At 39, Messi was still the beating heart of Argentina, inspiring the team to fight back every time gritty opponents like Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland raised their game to give the three-time world champions a run for their money.
Now, ironically, it was England who failed to raise their level after taking the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute.
Making defensive substitutions, England seemed happy to protect their lead instead of finishing Argentina off with a second goal.
Messi sensed his moments and exploded into action, drifting to the right to make those runs at the England defence.
Eventually, Messi’s perseverance and Argentina’s bold play in the final third allowed Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez to score and earn their second straight final appearance.
Now, Joe Cole’s former England teammate, Gary Neville, had a heated argument with Roy Keane following England’s defeat in the semifinal, a match where Messi once again made the difference.
On Stick To Football, Neville was furious with England manager Thomas Tuchel for not allowing any of his players to man-mark Messi in the second half, giving the Argentine the space to make those dangerous runs from the right.
“For some reason he (Tuchel) didn’t just go and say to Nico O’Reilly, I don’t care whoever else is inside you, stay with Messi when he drops outside you, do not let him go,” Neville said. “Man-mark him, and when he comes out here, force him to go back inside because if you go central, he can’t cross it.”
That’s when Keane, the former Ireland captain, stopped Neville, reminding his former Manchester United teammate that opposition teams have failed to stop Messi for more than 20 years now — no matter what tactics they use.
“Do you not think teams have done that in the last 20 years? All the great coaches and players have done that, because he’ll go, and you can stand next to him, he will be like ‘I’ll do a little shimmy or I’ll move.”
Man-marking is a tactic used by teams in football to restrict the movement of the opposition’s best player.
Typically, a defensive midfielder stands next to the opponent’s star player, chasing him everywhere, putting pressure on him when he gets the ball, trying to deny him the space to move or make a pass.
This is what Neville felt England should have done against Messi in the semifinal.
But Keane responded by reminding him that Messi is an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner for a reason.
And that reason is that he finds a way to overcome the challenges to make the difference more often than not.
Unfortunately for England and millions of their supporters, Messi did Messi things on Wednesday, extending their 60-year wait for a major trophy.
And to borrow a phrase from Cole, it’s ‘the boy from Rosario’ who put England to bed.
Source: Khaleej Times