Lionel Messi heaped praise on Julian Alvarez after the Manchester City man helped Argentina to a comfortable 3-0 win over Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
La Albiceleste were in control from the get-go and took the lead from the penalty spot through that man Messi. After Alvarez was hacked down inside the box, the Paris Saint-Germain star smashed the spot-kick into the top corner, giving Dominic Livakovic little chance.
Lionel Scaloni's side continued to dominate proceedings and added a second just before half-time. Alvarez slalomed through the Croatia defence before a couple of fortunate ricochets and bounces saw him eventually poke the ball past Livakovic. Then the youngster would complete his brace in the second-half as he tapped the ball home from close-range after Messi's dazzling run and pull back.
Messi was awarded his fourth Man of the Match award at the tournament after the game, although he felt Alvarez would've been an equally deserving winner. The 22-year-old is now on four goals and one assist at the competition despite not starting the opening two games against Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Sergio Aguero presented Messi with the award at the Lusail Stadium, but when asked if he would have given the trophy to anyone else, the Argentina captain replied: "Every player did very well, but if I had to choose I would give this award to Julian. He had an extraordinary game."
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Alvarez also reflected on his side's win and admitted he is "very happy personally" with his performance on the day as he helped Argentina into the World Cup final. Reflecting on the match, Alvarez himself said: "I am very happy personally and for the whole group. We played a great game. Now we have to rest up and play another great game on Sunday."
Argentina will now face Morocco or France in the final on Sunday - a feat that didn't look possible when they lost to one of the lowest ranked sides in the competition, Saudi Arabia, in their opening game. But Messi has admitted that defeat helped unite his group to improve and win their next five matches.
Messi added: "The first match was a very hard blow to take. We had played 36 matches without defeat until then. To start like that against an opponent we never expected to lose to, it was a very tough test for this group.
"But we showed that we are strong and we got better match by match. What we did was so difficult because each match was a final. We played five finals and we won five, now hopefully that continues on Sunday."
