What happened on a historic night for Argentina? ‘Messi things’ | Pablo Iglesias Maurer

L ong after the dust had settled on Argentina’s 3-0 group-stage victory over Algeria on Tuesday night, Algeria and Bayern Munich midfielder Ibrahim Maza wearily emerged from behind a curtain and stepped up to the microphone. Maza had played well, even assisting on Algeria’s disallowed first goal. He’d also had a front row seat to a Lionel Messi masterclass, just a few yards away from Argentina’s captain when he scored his third goal of the evening and tied Miroslav Klose as the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer. In short order, he was asked to expand on what made Messi unplayable on Tuesday evening. “Messi things,” Maza said, a smile creeping across his face. “I don’t think I need to explain to you [what that means]. I think you just have to watch the game and then you’ll know what I mean by Messi things. He can decide the game on his own, as we saw today.” Messi did indeed decide the game on his own on Tuesday, scoring a trio of clinically-taken goals to bury Algeria and push Argentina to the brink of the knockout round. He did so 20 years to the day after scoring his first World Cup goal for Argentina. It feels sometimes like Messi is ageless, but rolling the tape on that strike – which came in Argentina’s 2006 group stage opener against Serbia and Montenegro – reveals a mop-headed teenager with alien-like speed and reflexes. He blurs across the area and smashes a finish across the face of goal, announcing his presence on the world stage. …