One goal and one moment of brilliance from Lionel Messi is enough for Argentina to beat Iran in the World Cup, but also for all the meme and football joke makers to come out of the woodwork in praise of the Barcelona star, while also not missing out on the opportunity to make fun of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Because that is how thing will always be: Whatever Messi does will be immediatly compared to what Ronaldo did, will do or does. For now, if Ronaldo actually plays again in this tournament, Messi has the advantage over him: Two more goals, two more wins.
It wasn’t the most enjoyable matches to watch between Argentina and Iran. Whenever a team decides they’ll give up on playing football, we’re not in for a treat. For certain minutes in the second half, Iran were actually the more dangerous team. However, the mindset for most of the match was even against going out on counter attacks. Simply defend, clear and regroup.
Through 180 minutes of football, Iran managed to keep a clean sheet. They even had a penalty shout after a borderline foul by Javier Mascherano. Then came injury time, and bus fell apart. Lionel Messi finally arrived.
