Match Report - Argentina v Croatia: How and Why Lionel Messi’s World Cup Dream Transformed into a Nightmare

The images of Lionel Messi frowning and rubbing his forehead dramatically during the Argentinian national anthem is being hailed as a prophecy that was fulfilled in their game against Croatia on Thursday night. 

When Argentina entered the field to sing their national anthem and take their pre-match photograph the Barcelona maestro was showing signs that he was feeling the pressure of carrying a team with no chemistry or direction to a victory. The burden of having to perform against Croatia following their draw against World Cup debutants, Iceland, is realistically what crushed this Argentinian team. 

If Messi’s penalty miss against Iceland and his dogged display against Croatia is to be the pinnacle of Argentina’s downfall there is one man who will breathe a sigh of relief, goalkeeper Willy Caballero. His horrific pass found its way to Croatian midfielder Rebic who paused, watched the ball come down and then volleyed past the wide-eyed keeper who foresaw his fate as soon as the ball left his boot. 

Argentina was waiting for a moment of magic from one of their players to inject some inspiration into the team to get a foothold of the game. But, the mistake was like a tsunami that drowned out any hopes that Argentina had of winning the match which kept the Croats afloat and sailed them to victory.

Prior to this, both teams were failing to play a level of football that their players are capable of, but the gifted goal to Croatia enhanced their spirits which saw key men Rakitic and Modric to find a new gear and hammer the final nails to Argentina’s World Cup coffin. 

Luka Modric produced a moment of quality to remind people why he is regarded one of the best central-midfielders in the World when he curled home from outside the box to put themselves out of reach and secure their qualification into the Last-16. 

Jorge Sampaoli’s poor tactics are what caused the goal that could see Argentina be knocked out of the competition on goal-difference should they beat Nigeria in their final game. In the final quarter of the game, Argentina became a team of defenders and attackers when he brought on Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuaín which left Croatia’s midfield to dictate the last moments of the game with ease and lead Rakitic score the third and final goal during stoppage time. 

Sampaoli’s footballing philosophy of intense attacking play and high pressure brought success during his time with Chile and Sevilla, it has been regarded as the underlying reason for the squad's recent downfall. The squad looks ponderous as attack half-heartedly with the fears of leaving the defense exposed in the back of their minds. 

While many had foreseen this embarrassing display from Argentina, Croatia deserve credit for their performance as they tamed the best player ever to grace the game of football and ended his dreams of becoming the heir of Argentinean icon Diego Maradona. 

Argentina’s hopes of qualifying to the next round now rely on Nigeria to draw or beat a well organised Icelandic team and them to beat Nigeria in their final game. With their goal difference in shreds, it seems unlikely that they will even get close to qualifying especially when their star man and the captain is showing signs that he physically cannot carry this poor Argentina side any longer. It is looking ever so likely that Willy Caballero’s mistake and Messi’s pre-match body language is going to be the iconic moments of what will become Argentina’s worst World Cup in their history.