France vs Argentina Match Review: Mess(y)i Argentina

Argentina became the first team to be knocked out of the tournament in the 2nd round of proceedings in the FIFA World Cup in Russia, when they lost 4-3 to France.

In a game where we saw many experienced faces, who knew that the Albiceleste would have been undone by one seasoned 19-year old?

Yes. We’re talking about Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe showed the world what he was capable of when he sped off from his own half to the Argentine penalty box, before being brought down. He then added 2 goals to his name in the 2nd half of the game, sealing the fate of the Argentinians, as the camera cuts to a Diego Maradona who had his eyes closed, not being able to take what he saw.

France played as a unit most of the time, drive forward in most occassions by Mbappe, whilst Argentina relied on their individual star power to drive them forward in the game. A very uncharacteristic Albiceleste meant that apart from Di Maria, Banega and Messi, there were not many pistons firing for them in the game, and they were duly punished for that. The 3 goals that were scored right after Les Blues went down showed everyone watching what silky passes, accompanied by pace, can do to a stubborn Argentina side.

France had a goal of the tournament candidate in the form of Benjamin Pavard’s, with the 22 year-old’s shot so well struck with the outside foot, that the ball curling, almost rising, before it hit the back of the net. Surely, there is no way to recreate that wonder of a strike, although Premier League players from the 80s may beg to differ.

However, you do have to give credit to Argentina, who fought from a goal down to equalize through a superb Angel di Maria shot, before Mercado, very Harry Kane-esque, deflected the ball to put them 2-1 up, and the final goal that they scored at the death, one which was not enough to present the Argentines a lifeline in the form of extra time. Messi came close as the final whistle blew, but it goes just wide.

In an instance, the Argentines look down, dejected, but knew they were dismantled by a very good France side. Didier Deschamps played his card right, whilst Sampaoli is left scratching his head, as he picked the wrong cards. The Argentine manager had Banega on the bench during the group stages, only to realise how pivotal he was in the 2-1 win over Nigeria, which sent his team over to the Round of 16. Here, he benched all his 3 strike choices, in favour of Messi playing the false 9 role.

That fell flat on his face, and he will live to rue his decision benching Paulo Dybala, who has had a stellar season with Juventus for the 2017/18 season, and up to yesterday’s loss, has not made an appearance. Just as his players lost trust in him halfway through the campaign, it looks very likely that the whole of Argentina have done the same thing, and a result of an early exit looks pretty much justified, as of now.

This could be Messi’s swansong, but that was not meant to be, as the limelight was given to Kylian Mbappe instead.

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