Lionel Messi has now scored 72 free kick goals, the third most ever scored by a football player.
Messi scored a free kick goal for the Argentina national team in their 3-1 win against Jordan at the World Cup. That free kick was free kick number 72 of his career, drawing him level with Juninho Pernambucano of Brazil.
The Argentine is in third place with 72 goals, Roberto Dinamita of Brazil has 75 free kick goals and Marcelino Carioca of Brazil has 78 goals.
His finishing has undoubtedly been at its peak during the group stage. I can’t say the same about his passing, though.
Again today, we struggled to create a single genuinely clear-cut chance from open play. Almost every attempted through ball from Messi was intercepted, and several of Nico Paz’s progressive passes met an opponent’s foot before reaching their target. We also saw very few deliveries into the box—neither Simeone, Tagliafico, nor Almada consistently looked to float crosses in for an aerial threat.
Perhaps I’m sounding overly critical, but these are simply the patterns I observed. The facts are one thing; how we interpret them is naturally subjective.
The encouraging part is that we’re still winning. But against stronger knockout opponents, we’ll likely need to improve our chance creation from open play rather than relying on moments of brilliance or set pieces alone.