Lionel Messi silences critics to lead Argentina into the last-16

Lionel Messi scored the opener in Argentina’s 2-1 victory against Nigeria last night and finally announced his arrival at this year’s World Cup.

Lionel Messi cut a frustrated and isolated figure in Argentina’s opening two Group D matches, as they slumped to a draw and a defeat against Iceland and Croatia respectively, which left them on the brink of elimination.

Last night was an all or nothing game for Jorge Sampaoli’s men and the whole nation knew that their star player had to rise to the occasion for them to have any chance of progressing.

Sure enough, the Barcelona striker produced a sublime first-half performance which he capped off with one of the goals of the tournament so far to open the scoring against Nigeria.

Ever Banega – whose inclusion brought much-needed creativity to this Argentine side -picked out Messi with a defence-splitting ball over the top, which he expertly took down with his knee before striding into the box and dispatching the ball past Francis Uzoho in the Nigerian goal.

3 touches of absolute perfection from the worlds best player ending with a sublime finish which served as a reminder of his exceptional ability and magical ball control.

What was by no means a simple chance, Messi made look easy, as he has done countless times over the years for club and country. He makes everything on a football pitch look effortless and never fails to produce when he’s needed most.

He’s had a difficult start in Russia and faced a lot of unfair criticism in the wake of Argentina’s first two games, but the 31-year-old star always believed the team would make it through.

“I knew that God was with us and would not leave us out,” Messi said to reporters post-match.

"“I don’t remember having ever suffered so much, because of the situation and because of what was at stake. It was a huge release for all of us.”“We had been through difficult days because of the result in the previous game, the situation we were in and because of a lot of things that came out.”“But fortunately we were able to achieve our objective. We knew we would do so. We didn’t expect to suffer so much but we were confident that we would get through. And thank God it happened.” – Lionel Messi"

Lionel Messi literally carries the weight of an entire nation’s hopes and dreams when playing for the national team and has often found it difficult to meet the fans wildly optimistic expectations.

Unfortunately, despite being part of several squads brimming with attacking flair and talented players, Leo has never played in a perfectly in-sync Argentina team.

They are a team of individuals – now more than ever – and they look to Messi as their divine conqueror to win games for them time and time again.

4 years ago in Brazil, he dragged them to the World Cup final and was awarded player of the tournament for his starring role in their bid for glory.

They fell short, not because of Messi falling even slightly below his usual high standard, but because of the fact they were simply not an in-tune or cohesive team.

Last year he again came to his countries aid after an abysmal World cup qualifying campaign, scoring a wonderful hat-trick in their final game against Equador to book their spot in Russia for these finals.

Now he has once again lifted Argentina, providing the spark last night that has re-ignited the fire within the hearts of the rest of the players, supporters and management on the sidelines.

Sampaoli spoke after the game about the importance of their talismanic striker:

"“We have the best player in the world and we have to make the most of that,”“My main concern is that Messi has continuity on the pitch: if he has a lot of the ball, then we have chances. If he gets isolated, then Argentina suffer.” – Jorge Sampaoli"

La Albiceleste will likely suffer further with a meeting with France now on the horizon in the next round for a squad that is still a long way from being in perfect harmony.

But they have hope in the form of Lionel Messi, their reluctant hero who carries the burden of genius they rely upon so heavily and as long as he is on the pitch, Argentina can never be written off and will remain a threat to anyone left in the competition.

Next: Recap of the Champions League's first fixtures

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