Paris Saint-Germain players scored three of the day's six goals. But that's not surprising ... for they are called Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé while Australia make a mark on and off the pitch.
Another Messi night
Staring elimination in the face, Argentina had to get a result against Mexico. A drab, goalless first-half at least was keeping them in the World Cup.In the 64th minute, Argentina's Angel Di Maria moved down the right wing, cut inside and slid the ball across to an unmarked Lionel Messi. Yes, you read that right. An unmarked Lionel Messi. Do these Mexicans not watch the TV? Before Kevin Alvarez could get over, the shot was away and fizzing from 25 metres out towards the bottom left hand corner of Guillermo Ochoa's goal. Messi set up Enzo Fernandez for the second. Messi's Paris Saint-Germain's paymasters must be rather conflicted. With their desperate desire to win the Uefa Champions League, they really can't be wanting the 35-year-old to be creaking around the World Cup in Qatar for too long. But wait, PSG are Qatari backed. In that case, vamos.
Kylian mission
Clearly in a hurry to surpass Olivier Giroud and Thierry Henry as France's record goalscorer, Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé struck his second and third goal of the 2022 World Cup in France's 2-1 victory over Denmark at the Stadium 974 dB. Giroud, who is still on active service, and Henry boast 51 goals. Mbappé at 23 has scored 31 times in 61 games. Will be interesting to see how many assists Mbappé lays on for a Giroud goal over the next couple of weeks.
Saudi fall
After their Day 2 heroics in which they came from behind to beat Argentina, Saudi Arabia fluffed their lines against Poland. They missed a first-half penalty and countless chances in the second-half when they were 1-0 down. Eight minutes from time the Saudi defender Abdulelah Al Malki got caught on the ball and Robert Lewandowski rammed home to seal a 2-0 win. It was the striker's first goal at a World Cup. How he and his teammates celebrated. They all flopped on top of him. A veritable pile of Poles.
Eight expectations
While we're on the subject of goalscoring feats. Mitchell Duke was chipper after scoring Australia's winner in the 1-0 success over Tunisia at the Al Janoub Stadium. "After the France match we were told that Craig Goodwin was only the seventh player to score for Australia at a World Cup," said Duke, who plays for Fagiano Okayama in Japan's second division. "I said to the coach a couple of days ago that I was going to be the eighth or ninth. So I'm very happy to be the eighth." Proudly, Fagiano Okayama's website carries a picture of their 31-year-old striker. As for Australia, they need a draw against Denmark on Day 11 to advance to the last-16 for the first time since 2006.
Good, good, good, good vibrations
After the 1-0 victory over Tunisia, Australia boss Graham Arnold gathered his charges for a motivational huddle. Martin Boyle, who is recovering from knee surgery, was on crutches in the melee of players and coaches. "We've moved him onto the coaching staff now as OVM - official vibes manager," deadpanned Arnold. "To keep all the boys up because he's just one of the most fantastic blokes you'll ever meet in your life and even though he's got that injury, the most important thing for him is the rest of the boys. There was no way he wanted to go home and no way I wanted to send him home. He wants to stay, support and be part of it and he deserves it more than anyone for what he did during the qualifying campaign." No way was this boy going to be beached.
