Messi back in action after World Cup, Ireland lose to Argentina 1-0
Messi, who had a disappointing World Cup in South Africa, made his first appearance against Ireland for a friendly match. This was the first time Messi was seen in Argentinean colours since Argentina were comprehensively defeated in the World Cup quarter-finals by Germany. Messi was considered the biggest flop of the 2010 World Cup alongside Wayne Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo.
Messi was apparently disappointed after Argentina’s exit from the World Cup as he missed the chance of immortalizing his name in the annals of Football’s history by winning the World Cup. Messi didn’t perform badly in the World Cup but he was not up to the expected standards either. Before coming to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Messi had won everything that was possible to win in football except of course football’s top prize i.e. World Cup. He accumulated Footballer of the Year and Champions League medals in his cabinet but they can’t match the significance of the World Cup. Messi would have to wait another four years before giving another shot for football’s greatest prize.
Meanwhile, Messi was in action at Aviva Stadium in Dublin against Ireland. The crowd was mystified in Ireland’s new stadium by the canny and crafty skills of Messi. Like his World Cup campaign, Messi was not destined to come on the scoreboard but his touches and passes were a treat to watch.
Argentina won the match 1-0. It marked La Albiceleste’s first outing since the controversial departure of Diego Maradona as coach. One could argue that Messi was not at his best in terms of his physical and mental form. But his movement and play clearly proved that Barcelona’s wonder-boy was in a league of his own. Irish fans were equally impressed by the Argentinean maestro.
Ireland was once again victim of poor refereeing when Danish referee Peter Rasmussen wrongly allowed Angel Di Maria's 20th minute winning goal. It reminded Irish people of the injustice done to them through poor refereeing in their World Cup qualifying match against France. Thierry Henry scored the winning goal with his hand in that match and France made it to the World Cup at the expense of Ireland.
The Irish crowd was generous in praising Messi’s performance as they cheered his exit when Messi was substituted in the 57th minute. The climate in the newly built stadium was electrifying as Irish fans poured in maximum capacity to mark the debut of the stadium.
Ireland missed its boss Giovanni Trapattoni for the match. Former Italian coach, Giovanni Trapattoni was in hospital after acquiring illness. His assistant Marco Tardelli, who took the reins in the absence of the Italian, looked disappointed by his team’s performance on their home soil. He said, “I am disappointed by the result, but I felt the young players we tried played very well, especially in the second half”. However, Tardelli never tried to undermine the credentials of the Argentinean team. Commenting on his opponent team, he said, “We played against a very experienced team and hopefully we will see the benefit from this match in the months ahead. Maybe we have found some new players and that is what you want from this sort of game. I have spoken to Giovanni Trapattoni and he is happy with the performance of our players”. Tardelli was also furious about the quality of FIFA officials refereeing the match. When fielded questions in this regard, he said, “We are unlucky to lose when you see the goal and I was wondering if they have changed the off-side rules, but we should not have conceded the goal even if the officials made a mistake”. With Maradona gone, now the spotlight is only on Messi. If Messi is able to produce similar performances in the future, then football fans are in for a big treat.
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