World Cup Now: Mexico’s strategy backfires vs. Messi, Argentina

Lionel Messi came through when his country needed him most, and Enzo Fernandez added a late goal for a must-needed 2-0 Argentina win over Mexico at Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Saturday to keep its 2022 FIFA World Cup hopes alive. 

Former United States men’s national team players DaMarcus Beasley, Jimmy Conrad and Sacha Kljestan discuss their big three takeaways from the match on “World Cup Now.”

Conrad: Messi was Messi, but don’t overlook Enzo Fernandez

For a long time, Mexico was in this game. I thought their tactics were not pretty, but were effective to slow down Argentina. Argentina refused to play out wide, and it really played into what Mexico was trying to do. Just trying to make the middle of the field very tough to break down. And finally, Argentina broke through. Leo Messi – the goat, doing goat things.

Enzo Fernandez, 21 years old! He plays central midfield for Benfica, has one goal on the season in the Portuguese league, and this guy’s doing this? Slicing and dicing in the box and putting it in the top corner? Make it make sense! I would almost consider retiring because I don’t think it gets better than that. You score a goal like that in the World Cup at 21 years old, it’s just downhill from there, baby! It doesn’t get any better than that. I’m happy for Argentina, I’m happy for Enzo Fernandez. Only his fifth appearance for the Argentinian national team and to do that is quite remarkable. I can’t imagine how proud his family and friends are.

What I was impressed about from Argentina, after they got that first goal from Messi, they relaxed, and they actually started to go at Mexico in a meaningful way. They were a little bit nervous, I thought, to start the game. A little bit edgy, not really feeling comfortable. Mexico [was] obviously fouling as much as they possibly can to not allow any rhythm or flow for Argentina. But they scored, that, they relaxed, and they got that second one. I think that bodes well for them the rest of the way.

Beasley: Messi had to step up, and he did

It had to be Messi. I said he was going to be the first goalscorer and man of the match. You can’t give him too much space. And that space was very, very minimal anyway. His mentality is incredible. The first half was not good for either team. It was scrappy, it was ugly. There was no rhythm in the game. It was a cage fight. Neither team looked like they were going to score. But when it comes to Messi, you cannot give this man space. Even an inch. That touch that he had on the pass from Angel Di Maria, that is so difficult, and he does that on a consistent basis. To put that ball on the side of the keeper where he can’t get it, that was impressive.

It felt like a cage match. I would say both teams wanted to win, but that’s not the truth. Mexico played not to lose. I’m with Sacha. I don’t like this type of football. The players that Mexico have, they should not be playing this way. I said it in the pregame, they’re very predictable every time they have the ball. It’s even worse today because they played very defensive, they didn’t want to go forward. It was a Mexican team that I never played against. It was very surprising to see them play this way.

Kljestan: Mexico is unrecognizable

Honestly, I wish they were out of the tournament. If you’re a Mexico fan, honestly, come talk to me on Twitter. If you’re watching this game, what are you thinking? Tata Martino has just set you guys up to play in basically a 5-3-2 — defend, defend, defend — they don’t even try to attack, and the goat goes “baaa” and scores. And then Martino starts yelling on the sideline, “Oh, go attack now”? No, you set up for a 0-0 finish, and you got crushed. I hate watching soccer like this. They usually play such good football. They’re comfortable on the ball, they’re comfortable moving around the field, they have guys that will take people on. The way that they played today, that’s not the Mexico I know.

I think Messi in his prime was exciting to watch like Kylian Mbappe is now. Messi is not exciting to watch anymore when he gets the ball every single time. He’s not going at people like Mbappe. But he has so much class in his left foot. The pass that comes in from Angel Di Maria, it’s hit pretty hard. And he takes the perfect touch, it’s about a yard and a half to his left, and then he just smacks it low in the corner where the goalie can’t get there. That’s just world-class.

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