Part 10: Brazil vs. Argentina – Player Analysis
Javier Pastore is being called as the “future star” adn in that aspect he is now being linked up with Barcelona and it could easily be seen that Pastore and Lionel Messi were trying their best to create in scoring goals. The chemistry
between them was also impressive as both of them were linking up well. However, a 70 million Euros price tag given to him by his club Palermo is simply too high a price for the Argentinean youngster.
The Real Madrid man Gonzalo Higuain was playing up front as a sole striker. It was definitely an off-night for the Argentinean who scored a hat trick during the FIFA World Cup 2010. It was the only hat trick that was scored during the
tournament and it was the first as well. Many later claimed that he did not deserve the hat trick because he often found himself lucky to just tap the ball in the goal and it was Lionel Messi who “gifted” him with the two goals during that game.
He simply did nothing while performing against the Brazilian side and did live up to his reputation of being a “big game choker.” He was often seen offside as Brazilians were playing a high defensive wall and the Argentinean was usually
seen being lost amongst the Brazilian back line.
Despite the fact that the Argentinean was not performing at his best, he still managed to test the Brazilian goalkeeper with a well-executed header which was saved by Victor. His performance during the game was not very extraordinary and
that was the reason why Sergio Batista substituted him for the Napoli man Ezequiel Lavezzi who turned out to be better than him.
Lionel Messi was the one who played on the right wing and simply did what he was supposed to do. He showed the world why he is known to be the best player in the world and he never fails in proving it as he totally took the game in his
hands. He was Argentina’s best player during the game and he was involved in each and every move that turned out to be positive for the Argentinean side.
During the first half, he managed to dribble past six Brazilian players and gave a wonderful pass to Angel Di Maria who was operating on the right flank during that time. Di Maria handed Lionel Messi with a superb volley which was well
taken by him but the shot that he took only managed to find the wood work. However, his hard work did come out to be positive as the Barcelona man dribbled past four Brazilian players during the 92ndminute and shot the ball into the net with his
trademark diagonal run. There was no way that Victor could get the ball from where Lionel Messi struck it – right in the bottom corner and it was definitely a day that the Argentinean maestro was going to remember.
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