Lionel Messi has praised Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez for his personal performance as Argentina defeated Croatia to secure their spot in the World Cup final.
Alvarez scored twice for Lionel Scaloni's side as the South American outfit won 3-0 on Tuesday night, with Paris Saint-Germain star Messi scoring the other goal from the spot.
The City frontman has now scored four goals at the World Cup in Qatar, having also been on the scoresheet against Poland and Australia. His strong showings are keeping Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria out of the starting line-up.
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Messi was keen to speak about Alvarez's performance after the victory over Croatia, with the 35-year-old insisting that the Blues star had earned the man-of-the-match award.
"Every player did very well, but if I have to choose I would give this [Man of the Match] award to Julian Alvarez. He had an extraordinary game," he said, via AlbicelesteTalk.
Alvarez has registered seven goals in 18 appearances for Argentina and is expected to start in the final on Sunday. Scaloni's men will come up against either France or Morocco.
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane also praised the striker's composure after his incredible solo goal, claiming that he loved the 22-year-old's determination.
"You’ve got to run in this game, especially when it’s direct," Keane exclaimed. "What I love about this is you’ve got a set piece and a striker going back to do the job properly.
"Croatia obviously, talk about cool heads, they weren’t cool for this four or five minutes. Look at this, power, running - okay there’s not that many options, people looking to help him - but it’s really poor defending, a little bit of luck, but he’s got composure.
"This is poor defending, it’s just this last bit - bang. Composure, right at the end, brilliant."
Alvarez has registered seven goals and two assists in 20 appearances for Pep Guardiola's side since his summer move to the Etihad Stadium.
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