Tinkler’s great expectations

– A magical Lionel Messi (above) hat-trick carried Argentina to a 3-1 win over Ecuador on Tuesday and booked their place at next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.

With Argentina facing the dire possibility of missing out on a World Cup for the first time since 1970, their brilliant captain delivered when it mattered most with three goals in the rarefied air of Quito.

The two-time World Cup winners finished third in the 10-team South American group, going through with Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia as the automatic qualifiers, while Peru grabbed a play-off place against New Zealand at the expense of Chile.

“Today Argentina took a great step forward,” said coach Jorge Sampaoli. “I hope that with the time to prepare that we’ll have, we can be competitive (in Russia).

“Messi doesn’t owe a World Cup to Argentina – football owes a World Cup to Messi. He’s the best player in history.”

While Sampaoli was delighted with his captain’s performance, he said the side had to stop relying on him so much.

“We’ve got to fix it so not everything depends on Messi,” he added.

Messi had not been at his best in Argentina’s stuttering campaign and failed to score in their previous three drawn qualifiers, which had left them in sixth place and out of the qualifying berths heading into Tuesday’s game.

A World Cup without Argentina seemed an even bigger possibility when Romario Ibarra put Ecuador ahead in the opening minute after he got the better of Javier Mascherano and beat Sergio Romero with a low shot. –

Also see Page 33