But Lionel Messi came to the rescue once again, the 30 year old linked up with compatriot Di Maria and put Argentina level after just 12 minutes. He scored a rocket from the edge of the area just 8 minutes later and in the second half, a solo effort from the Barcelona man put Argentina on a straight flight path to Russia.

Head coach Jorge Sampaoli was extremely thrilled and said this of the 5 time world best player “Luckily the nationality of the best player in the world is Argentinian,” and also “We must be sure everything does not depend on Leo but today he brought his great ability.” “I told the group: Messi did not owe the world cup to Argentina, but football owed the world cup to Messi. We should help him be in the world cup.