Just when you think Lionel Messi cannot possibly get any better, he goes straight out and proves otherwise. The Argentina star put in yet another display of the highest quality to down the United States 4-0 and send the Albiceleste strolling into the Copa America Centenario final.
The hundredth edition of the world’s longest-running international competition lends itself to a history lesson or two. And few players have made as much history in recent years as the Barcelona superstar, for whom the entire sport of football seems to be an exercise in breaking down the realms of possibility.
Argentina started with a throwback to the 1994 World Cup—the last major tournament disputed in the U.S. Just seven minutes in, Messi’s perfectly weighted pass found Ezequiel Lavezzi alone and the forward— drafted in as a replacement for the suspended Nicolas Gaitan—nodded in to break home resistance at the first attempt.
Lavezzi chose to pay homage to one Diego Maradona, who, 22 years ago to the day, netted his 32nd and last goal for the country against Greece. Pocho’s imitation of the great’s wild-eyed gesticulation to the cameras summed up this team—immensely powerful, but at the same time blessed with the pure enjoyment of playing the game.
Wednesday, meanwhile marks the 30th anniversary of the game that made Diego an idol: the Hand of God, the Goal of the Century and the joy of a nation as England went down on the way to the 1986 World Cup. The Argentina team that went out against the U.S. seemed modelled on that side Carlos Bilardo built, subconsciously or not.
Taking a page out of his predecessor’s playbook, Gerardo Martino employed a flexible 4-3-3 formation that during the first half especially resembled Bilardo’s 3-5-2. Javier Mascherano settled in between centre-backs Nicolas Otamendi and Ramiro Funes Mori, allowing the wide men to push forward into midfield.
Messi, meanwhile, was left in Maradona’s free role, and it proved a devastating change of pace for the U.S., who were never better than a distant second in Houston. La Pulga pulled the strings along with Ever Banega in the middle of the pitch, and the …
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