Argentina placed itself in the final match of the “Qatar 2022” World Cup, on Tuesday, after its victory over Croatia, with three goals without a response, in the “Lusail” stadium, in the semi-final competitions of the tournament.
The Argentine national team entered the match with a 4-4-2 plan in an attempt by coach Lionel Scaloni to match the strong midfield of Croatia, which relied on its usual 4-3-3 style, with the presence of veteran Luka Modric, the fulcrum in Zlatko Dalic’s squad.
As expected, each side sought to take possession of the ball and deny the other side of it, which made time pass without creating any direct opportunity for the two goals, until the 25th minute, which marked the first attempt with a long shot from Enzo Fernandez, which was blocked by Dominic Levakovic with difficulty.
The turning point in the match was caused by Julian Alvarez, when he slipped between the Croatian defenders, to be blocked by goalkeeper Levakovic, as a result of which the referee awarded a penalty kick, which Lionel Messi translated into the first goal in the 34th minute.
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The surprise goal prompted the Croatian national team to advance towards the attack, abandoning defensive caution, which the “Tango” took advantage of and hit with a second goal after 5 minutes via Alvarez, who launched between the defenders in a shot in which he was lucky to have the ball return to him before he put it into the net.
The second half, Dalic started with several substitutions at the level of the front line to improve the offensive performance, while Scaloni fortified his back lines and gave orders to rely on counterattacks to invest the empty spaces between the ranks of the Croatian national team.
Argentina’s national team remained the most dangerous in the midst of unparalleled brilliance from Messi and Alvarez, who added the third goal at the 69th minute, after a distinguished individual effort from Lionel.
After that, the Croatian national team surrendered to reality, and Messi and his comrades remained the owners of the supreme word until the end that announced the victory of Argentina and its arrival to the closing scene for the second time in the last three versions, as it competed in the 2014 World Cup final and lost it to Germany with a single goal.
Argentina will meet in the final, next Sunday, December 18th, the winner of Morocco’s confrontation with defending champion France, which is scheduled to be played tomorrow, Wednesday.