Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer were left hailing Lionel Messi’ s “phenomenal” assist as Argentina clashed with the Netherlands on Friday.
The South Americans tackled the European side and raced into a 2-0 lead at the Lusail Stadium. Paris Saint-Germain star Messi was predictably at the heart of things for his country. He was on hand to double their lead from the penalty spot after Marcus Acuna was fouled in the box. Before that, he sprinkled more of his magic on the tie after producing a stunning reverse pass for Nahuel Molina’s opening strike.
The pass left Match of the Day pundits Ferdinand and Shearer stunned having analysed the goal during the half-time break at the Lusail Stadium. The former Manchester United defender said: "The pass defies physics.
“It’s a phenomenal pass, it had to be perfect and it was. The first touch once he gets the ball is great, this bit here where he separates himself from Ake, how he sees this pass, Blind has to get inside Molina. The pass was absolutely sublime.”
Shearer did not hesitate in agreeing with his BBC colleague but also gave praise to goalscorer Molina. “You will go on about the pass but Molina is the guy who gets the ball back and wins it,” he said.
“Just look at his first touch, the pass is unbelievable, the vision is incredible, the weight of pass, everything but watch the first touch of Molina takes it away from the defender, if Van Dijk has to get in the way he has to foul him. It’s a wonderful finish.”
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Ferdinand replied: “How does he see this pass? Everyone else in the stadium is saying ‘oh no, oh my god, it’s one of those.”
Messi’s stunning showing against the Dutch saw him match Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentina record of 10 World Cup goals - four of which have come in Qatar alongside two assists. Despite his exhilarating performance at the Lusail Stadium, things were not straightforward for Argentina.
Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst climbed off the bench to halve the deficit for his side before he then converted a spectacular free-kick routine in the final seconds of the match to send the game into extra-time.
Speaking more about Messi’s showing, Ferdinand said: “He hasn’t played well or particularly well like you would say about Messi. He does little things in the game other people can’t do and it might just be the way he receives the ball with three or four around him. Other people will give that away. These details, the pass is fired into him, there’s five around him, other players give it away.”
