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Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny catches Lionel Messi in the face - penalty
Photo:
Natacha Pisarenko / AP
Messi's self-header assist for the penalty:
Lionel Messi actually scores his goals with his feet.
However, he rose to a header in the 38th minute, was shoved and caught with his left hand in the face by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.
After the video evidence, the referee gave a penalty for the touch.
The fouled grabbed the ball, but failed in a duel with Szczęsny - this time on the keeper's right hand.
The result:
Argentina won 2-0 (0-0) against Poland and is in the round of 16.
But the losers can also look forward to the knockout stages.
For a long time it looked as if the fair play rating would decide who would progress, but then Mexico conceded a goal in the parallel game against Saudi Arabia.
Here is the match report.
5:7:
Poland were meanwhile 0:2 behind, Mexico led 2:0 against Saudi Arabia and thus the two teams actually had the same number of points (4), the same goal difference (0) and also the same number of goals scored (2 ).
So it all came down to fair play, and Poland only had four cards and Mexico already had seven.
Poland conceded the fifth, a decision by lottery was close.
But in the end Saudi Arabia's draw and fair play decision remained only theory because of the goal.
By the way: in 2018 there was a fair play decision to the detriment of Senegal.
Premiere:
Robert Lewandowski and Messi – it was the first duel between these two world-class attackers in international matches.
This Polish-Argentinian pairing has already happened eleven times, most of which date back a long time.
The two teams played each other once at the 1974 World Cup, once at the 1978 World Cup, plus nine friendlies.
The only duel in this millennium was in 2011, in which Lewandowski took part but not Messi.
On the pitch, both avoided each other most of the time - it was only in the final stages that Lewandowski got to Messi's feet to bring the result over time.
The Argentine didn't like that much, he was visibly annoyed.
The first half:
Only one team played, the Argentines.
Messi's first shot came in the seventh minute and the first successful dribble in the ninth.
The superstar then shot from an acute angle, which was saved by keeper Szczęsny (10th minute).
Then Marcos Acuña first shot well over it (17th) and then just wide (28th).
Julián Álvarez failed twice because of the strong goalkeeper (36', 43').
In between, Szczęsny saved the Messi penalty.
Sly fox :
Ángel Di María curled a corner directly onto goal in the 33rd minute, goalkeeper Szczęsny deflected it over the bar.
The keeper showed himself to be a fair sportsman: he smiled in the direction of Di María and gave a thumbs-up.
Szczęsny was probably only so relaxed about the scene because he hadn't conceded a goal.
The second half:
started with Argentina taking the lead – and notably, neither Messi nor Di María were directly involved.
Alexis Mac Allister scored his first international goal by direct acceptance after Nahuel Molina provided the assist from the right (46').
Argentina's Álvarez scored the second goal (67').
Poland didn't have a chance: Messi failed shortly afterwards at the keeper (71'), Álvarez at the side netting (73').
In injury time, Szczęsny and a Polish defender made a joint save (90+3).
Earthly dribble god:
A curious scene happened shortly after the opening goal.
Messi dribbled his way into the penalty area messi-like, but the ball jumped him there and shot it into the stands instead of making it 2-0.
Messi smiled at the mishap, fans paid homage to their idol and cheered him up with gestures of adoration.
More than Maradona:
At least in one category Lionel Messi has now surpassed the Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
He is now the sole record player when it comes to World Cup appearances.
The 35-year-old has played 22 World Cup games so far, one more than Maradona.
But of course Maradona still leads in the most important category: he won a World Cup in 1986.
The round of 16:
Argentina now meets Australia on Saturday (8 p.m.), Poland meets defending champions France on Sunday.
Messi's team are likely to go into the knockout round as favorites, while Poland... probably not.
