LUSAIL, Qatar — Lionel Messi strode into the cauldron at 9:53 p.m., and stared up into the eye of the Lusail Stadium storm. It had been brewing for hours and days with Argentina here on the brink of World Cup elimination. It pelted him for an hour as Messi and teammates seemed paralyzed by pressure and Mexican noise. And then, after 63 minutes of dreadful soccer, he emerged from a crowded midfield to lift his nation out of impending despair.
. It sent his teammates flying toward the far corner flag, where he'd sprinted away to celebrate. It sent one, Lisandro Martinez, collapsing to his knees, perhaps to thank a divine being, perhaps in overwhelming relief."Geeeeenniioooo," they sang a few moments later.They later bowed to him as if he were a god. When Enzo Fernandez doubled the lead and clinched the victory, some whipped off their shirts and twirled them in the air.
They regrouped with family at their Qatar University base in Doha. They came to Lusail on Saturday night with stoic faces and the occasional grin. But when they emerged onto the field for warmups, 40 minutes prior to kickoff, the impossible size of the occasion surely struck them. They seemed terrified of the mere possibility that any Mexican crusade into the attacking half, or even a minor mistake, could end their World Cup. They got sucked into playing an extraordinarily ugly first half. Mexico had made it ugly by design; and Argentina by accident. There were 16 fouls and zero shots on target from open play. The repulsiveness silenced many of the Argentine fans, who for so long had been so intent on making a racket.
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