Overcoming great pressure, Messi scored to help Argentina win big

Match result: Argentina 3-0 Venezuela

Goal

Argentina: Gonzalez (35′), Di Maria (79′), Messi (82′)

In recent times, Lionel Messi has been under tremendous pressure at PSG. The player was the focus of criticism after the team was knocked out of the Champions League. Even the fans continuously booed every time El Pulga held the ball.

Leaving behind that terrible pressure, Messi has found inspiration when playing for the Argentina team. In the qualifying match World Cup 2022 took place this morning, El Pulga scored a goal to help the home team win 3-0 against Venezuela.

In fact, this is just a procedural match between two teams. Argentina has definitely got a ticket to the 2022 World Cup from a few rounds ago, while Venezuela has been eliminated when it is only at the bottom of the table.

However, coach Scaloni still threw Messi on the field to help this player find inspiration. With a superior squad, Argentina easily controlled the game. However, Venezuela has defended quite discreetly. In the first 30 minutes, Argentina did not create any significant chances.

However, in the 35th minute, the Tango team broke the deadlock. Messi is the one to launch the attack, the ball reaches De Paul’s feet. This player made a favorable pass for Nicolas Gonzalez to cushion the ball close to the net to hit Venezuela.

This goal helps Argentina to have a more comfortable mentality. In the 70th minute, a new player was introduced to the field, Di Maria registered on the scoreboard. From De Paul’s long pass, the PSG player went down to break the offside trap, before making a shot to hit the opponent’s net.

Not stopping there, Argentina continued to get the goal just 3 minutes later. This time, Di Maria made the pass for Messi. The striker stopped his chest, before performing a close-range volley, hitting Venezuela’s net, making it 3-0.

This is the 760th goal of Messi’s career. It also ended his five-month drought with the national team. The last time El Pulga scored for Argentina was in the match against Uruguay on October 11, 2021.

With this victory, Argentina is still ranked 2nd on the table with 38 points, 4 points behind the top team Brazil. Meanwhile, Venezuela is at the bottom of the table with only 10 points after 17 matches.

Squad

Argentina: Armani, Tagliafico, Pezzella, Otamendi, Molina, De Paul, Paredes, Allister, Messi, Gonzalez, Correa.

Venezuela: Farinez, Casseres, Ferraresi, Chancellor, Navarro, Jose Martínez, Herrera, Josef Martínez, Rosales, Rondon, Makoun.