Lionel Messi’s game vs. Uruguay: Man of the Match, unstoppable, leader

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Lionel Messi played a fantastic match vs. Uruguay and led the national team to its first victory after three consecutive draws, in the 1000th game of Argentina’s national team history.

The Argentina captain assisted Guido Rodríguez with a precise cross, which was the Albiceleste’s winning goal. But it wasn’t just the cross as Leo made some incredible runs against the always tough Uruguayan defense, being able to dribble many opponents in difficult situations.

But Messi’s importance on the game wasn’t just when he had the ball. He was seen giving orders constantly to his teammates, trying to organize the team on the pitch. In addition to his magnificent never-ending skills, it seems that we are seeing more of a leader and a more mature Messi than in previous occasions.

Messi’s assist to Guido’s goal is his 13th, a record at the Copa America.

Here is a short Lionel Messi compilation from Argentina’s 1-0 win.

68 Comments

  1. @Amit, @Mik, thanks for reading. I do think Angel Correa could be an interesting option there if DT is thinking of sitting down the Bull for a bit and still waiting on Kun. This season when Suarez was out Angelito was leading the line for a bit in a sort of a false 9 type of position. Personally I am not a fan of false 9’s but with games against Paraguay and Bolivia it could be interesting to see him get a few minutes there.

    • Angel Correa is a fighter at Atletico Madrid..otherwise he may have lost his position in club..
      hope he will do well when given chance

  2. I will get hate for this but I kind of disagree.

    In my opinion, besides the assist it sort of felt he was just playing pretty normally. Making frequent runs into the third half and either passing or losing it. Either way I don’t think there was ONE prominent player in the entire match.

    Not one single player alone really contributed much. Messi got an assist and G a goal but that doesn’t make you man of the match.

    • I forgot but didn’t Christina used to be a decent dribbler? at least when she was with ManU!
      All that Fifa stepovers is all that is left for many years now, and even that has faded.

      • We have no enemy. This is futbol. That being said, England, Germany and Chile are always losses we should celebrate.

        Cristiano has never done anything vs Argentina of note. He sells more tshirts than Messi, thats no reason to hate on the guy. Now the delusional people who think he is an all time top 3 and better than Messi, lol.

  3. Premier league player of the season lol. He is good but English media and pundit made him too much. Ruben dias. Also Messi is way way better leader then Ronaldo. Messi plays for team Ronaldo plays for himself. Also I think yesterday was a big game which was must win for us. I hate when people say Messi doesn’t turn up in big game. We have so much examples of it

  4. Germans always plays free flowing football that looks entertainhg,they have players for that kind of football.

    • Their system is solid. We need one like this. First system then you get players. We are in right path. Changing coach won’t help anything. Look at German. They hated their coach but sticked with him for great results

  5. OMG I hate Ronaldo…
    but damn this guy is a leader…And he scores again against a big Nation…I wish for Messi to step up more in the next gamefor me he was Man of the Match at least not in the second half…

    I really love Messi and he’s way to play Football he is a God… But that second half against Uruguay was bad… Maybe he didn’t want the Ball to pass anymore because Lautaro and Nico did not Score… But we could’ve won easier with at least one more goal….

    Let’s go against Paraguay and I hope that Scaloni shows some Balls if Messi plays bad again and Subs him…

    We need Messi in KO

    • to all the was giving me some hate now I’m not talking about that Goal against Germany now in particular… If you watch the match like I do now you probably saw that the whole Counter was initiated by Ronaldo his clearance in the own Box…

      I’ve said many times before I hate Ronaldo but he really steps up against big ones that’s just what I’m saying…

      I wish that for Messi too against every opponent…. I know Messi is the GOAT and there will probably never be a Player as good anymore so let’s enjoy…

      • With Portugal, Real Madrid or Juventus teams CR7 was under lot less pressure than Messi with Argentina or recent Barcelona teams. If the team plays well, we can see an awesome Messi.

    • In big match AGAIN? Fun facts from CR: 1. he never scored vs Germany and vs France before today in 10 matches!!! 2. he only scored in 3 out of 29 matches against WC-champions winners!!! 3 fckin matches from 29!!! 3. he never scored or assisted in WC knockout stages 4. he never scored or assisted against south american opponents in WC and Conf Cup 5. He never scored or assisted in portugal last knockout matches in big tournaments 8/0/0, and his team only won when he was injured vs France, nothing with him…and you say he is a big game player in NT jersey, what a monumental LIE!!! stop this marketing propaganda, Euro winner cheerleader in 16, a huge underperformer in big matches, btw he scored only 31 goals from 107 vs TOP50 opponents (in world ranking) what a complete joke.

      • This was anything but a step up, nonsense defending from Germany, and a 100% tap-in created by his teammates and a nonsense assist after horrible defending also.

      • At Csabala

        I told you guys don’t get offended… I hate Christiano and I love Messi… But Messi wasn’t very good yesterday I saw the whole Match… I just said I wish Messi is gonna perform better in the next Matches… I don’t look up stats that often because Messi has nit very good stats himself as for Copa and WC…

        still let’s goooo Argentina

        • What match did u watch yesterday; Messi was gr8… Some decisions he could have done better, except that he was excellent;

          Today CR7 had a tapin goal & a defensive mistake assist; Apart from that he was awful; Giving away the ball cheaply, making wrong passes & the usual theotrics;

          • @Kitty

            I’m watching Messi ever since he’s played football… But the second half yesterday was far from great as you mentioned. I’m very happy for the win and also for the Assist from Messi…

            I’ve seen Messi live for a few times and his presence was so much more then yesterday…

            I just think we need to consider, that Messi needs some rest so he’s fully fit for KO stages

            vamoooos

    • So Ronaldo against Germany was better than Messi against Uruguay? Seriously???

      What do you smoke man? Let me get a taste of the same. That must be working very well, lol

  6. To become world class team Argentina do not need to do much. In CF position needs Icardi,Aguero,Alario,Dybla in left wing N. Gonzalez and J. Correa enough, DM Paredes,G.Rodriguez enough. In CM Lo celso,Emi Buendai, De Paul, Papu Gomez are enough, in LB Acuna Tagliafico good,For CB C. Romero is best in RB Foyth,Sarvia and Molina looks good
    In Gk Emi Martinez is leader. Just need two good CBs I do not believe Quarta Martinez, Pezella I think M.Senesi and Medina deserves chance.

  7. What an entertaining first half to watch Portugal vs Germany for neutrals. They are playing with a clear plan what this idiot Scaloni doesn’t have any.

    • Germany has been playing with the same coach and same system with many players familiar to the system for a long time. They also have great and experienced players in each position, unlike Argentina where we have surplus in some areas but lack great players with experience in some other areas. Don’t expect Argentina play like Germany, atleast not yet.

      But we need to get more players up front when we attack, learning something from Germans. Against Uruguay, Messi didn’t have any options at front many times.

  8. We are on the right track. In World Cup 2014 in the first match, we had 2 weak points: Federico Fernandez and Gago. We fixed them by introducing Demichelis and Biglia.

    The same thing happens now, Lucas Martinez Quarta was our weakest link and the return of Romero fixed everything. The right back, Molina is an upgrade version over Montiel. Acuna looks much better than Tagliafico in all aspects including defensively.

    Guido Rodriguez can challenge Paredes now for the #5. Palacios is a different player from Lo Celso, but Palacios has the best one two passing among all Argentina players not named Messi. It was him and Messi doing one-two in the second half that created a golden chance for Messi. So both Lo Celso and Palacios are good options. De Paul has one of his best games wearing Argentina jersey yesterday.

    The 75% fit Nico Gonzales already looks like a revelation, this guy gets a bit of everything to be a really good player. He got speed, dribbling, pace, header, shooting, work rate, stamina, and versatility to be an elite winger. Messi is Messi. He is more determined than all other captains (Neymar, Godin, and so on) to win this Copa. When all other captains talked about the possibility of boycotting the tournament, Messi along with AFA was the first one to write a formal letter that Argentina is ready for the Copa America.

    The goalie, Emi Martinez the chance to be the best goalie we have ever had since my idol Goyco.

    Lautaro has lost his mojo, hope he will be back to his real self soon.

    Aguero is not done yet. He needs a chance. The same with Di Maria and Otamendi.

    Now the x factor: This Copa America don’t do extra time in the elimination round in case the game goes draw. What is good about that is that we suddenly have excellent PK takers: Messi, Aguero, Nico Gonzales, Paredes, De Paul, Papu Gomez, and Lautaro are all above average PK takers. Emi Martinez has a pretty good 6 PK saves in 23 attempts in his career, good enough for more than 26% which roughly means in PK shootout he should be able to save one of the 5 PK takers at least.

    The team spirit is good. Messi starts to enjoy being in the group. The team is eager to get better and better. For me this team is definitely a contender. I am glad they have yet to reach their peak yet. Hope they reach their peak in the elimination round, not now.

  9. Scaloni is a shit head.. arg entina classy players is making him look good. Picking emi and Romero is the only ting he did good. Palacios, Nico Dominguez has no impact..dybala and buindea should have been in the squad. Papu will be a better sub but he still has no mins. Wtf.

  10. Bytheway Guido had an excellent game. Not because he scored,he was defensively solid,distributed the ball well. Would be nice if they find a system to play Guido & Paredes together with De Paul little bit advance role since Lo Celso will be rested. Guido gave more balanced in the team

  11. I can see all the fans criticizing Scaloni are gone. We played great the past 4 games… y’all care more about the result over how we play.

    • Yes because changing lautaro after 55 mints were bold decison. Playing with acuna and molina for TAGLAFICo and Montiel were gud decision… Its not matter you won or loss . It’s matter how you loose and play..

    • We played great in last 4 games, really? May be only 1st halves. 2nd halves have been really poor. Scoring 1 goal and then trying to defend that lead is not what Argentina should be doing. Besides, there is no rhythm in the game i.e. it’s not free-flowing football. Let’s see if things improve in remaining matches.

  12. Argentina’s team is in transition. defence and midfield will be sorted over the period of time before the world cup. it is the forward line along with the backup goalkeepers that has to be sorted

  13. Messi looks more motivated now because he knows this team is good. If Messi plays good Argentina will be champion of Copa America as there is no weakness in any department. Defence was concern but with Acuna and Tagliafico it is sorted,C.Romero is very good Center Back,gk is Emi Martinez the leader,Right Back is quite good, Otamendi is playing good.

    • True. I could watch only the final 20 mins or so, but I can definitely appreciate his play. He was leading from the front in all the sense. Hope to see the same Messi and the same performance from the team in future matches as well.

    • France can win matches only by counter-attacking football I think. They may struggle against teams that sit back. Their weapon is unleashing Mbappe in counter attack. However, I am impressed by their quality as well as physicality of players. They are capable to win against any team currently.

    • Fearless team. No parking of bus & having the guts to attack giants. They have surely won global fans irrespective of results

  14. So much for Messi doesn’t say this or doesn’t say that, not captain material, Messi doesn’t communicate………blah blah blah he might be small in stature but carries a BIG stick.

    I hope he keeps them in line and prevent them from being overconfident for the next game, Paraguay is not chopped liver either.

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