Gary Neville was left red-faced after his rather bold assessment of Lionel Messi backfired in less than 30 minutes during Argentina's pivotal 2-0 World Cup group stage win over Mexico on Saturday night.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner had the weight of a nation on his shoulders as he aimed to inspire a return to form after the humiliating 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia earlier this week. A second successive loss would have ensured Argentina's elimination and at one stage that seemed a realistic possibility.
After 45 minutes, Messi and Argentina had barely laid a glove on Mexico, which prompted Neville to confidently declare: "Players aren't fearful of Lionel Messi anymore," while on punditry duty for ITV at half-time.
Less than 20 minutes into the second-half, the Pairs Saint-Germain superstar struck. Picking up the ball around 20 yards out, with one swift of that iconic left boot the Argentine icon spared his nation's blushes like he has done so many times before.
Pandemoium erputed in the Argentina end, with their ludicrously talented talisman coming to the rescue shortly before Enzo Fernandez put the result beyond any doubt.
The win means Argentina's fate in the competion remains in their hands and in turn, places more responsibility on the man other players no longer fear according to Neville.
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Put simply - if they don't, they should. Messi is still more than capable of producing sublime moments of magic as proven by his pinpoint, low-driven strike that left Mexico's iconic shot-stopper Guillermo Ochoa diving at thin air.
If La Albiceleste are to stand any chance of going far in Qatar, it will mean Messi has to be at his best. Even if opposition players don't fear him, his team-mates still view the 35-year-old as the man to turn to in times of trouble.
Argentina have now netted three goals in this year's World Cup, two of which have been scored by the former Barcelona great. Any suggestion that Messi is past his best would appear to be premature.
Of course, he isn't beating eight players and rifing the ball into the top corner of the net with quite the regularity he was at the Camp Nou in his peak, but there are few players still in the game that possess such talent.
For all the talk surrounding Messi's leadership or alleged lack thereof, he was the one to get Argentina out of the bind they were in and Neville's claim doesn't do the footballing great the justice his illustrious career demands.
Messi's intervention against Mexico means the fairytale ending of him at long last getting his hands on football's most coveted trophy remains a possibility - regardless of Neville's assessment.
