Magical Messi takes Argentina into Cup finals
A NATION exploded with relief as Lionel Messi single-handedly dragged his Argentina team into next year’s World Cup finals with a spellbinding hattrick in Quito.
Messi gave the world a masterclass of what it would be missing if he did not go to Russia 2018 – a distinct possibility when Argentina went a goal down inside the first minute of a match they had to win.
Ecuador’s Romario Ibarra struck in the first minute of the game, casting a pall of gloom across Argentina as he scored.
But Messi burst through the gloom to equalise and then soon scored again to give Argentina the lead.
Pride in the shirt was restored when Messi completed his hat-trick in the second half. It was time for Argentines at home to believe again.
Even music yielded to Messi when Irish rockers U2 delayed their concert by almost two hours to allow fans in the La Plata stadium near Buenos Aires time to watch the match on giant screens.
When they finally came on stage, they kicked off a giant party.
Only a win would do in Quito, where Argentina had not won since 2001. The nation held its breath.
Now Argentina will bask in the fact that the “Messiah” will lead them to the World Cup finals.
Meawhile, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Antoine Griezmann’s France booked spots at next year’s World Cup finals on Tuesday while the Netherlands crashed out.
Portugal beat Switzerland 2-0 in Lisbon thanks to a Johan Djourou own goal and an Andre Silva strike.
France needed goals from Griezmann and Olivier Giroud in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Belarus at the Stade de France.
After a stuttering campaign, France’s achievement in beating Bulgaria and Belarus in their final two qualifiers means they avoid the playoffs, having had to go through that route for the last two finals. The Dutch, World Cup finalists in South Africa in 2010 and semifinalists four years later, bowed to the inevitable as they failed to achieve the unlikely 7-0 scoreline over Sweden they needed to salvage a wretched qualifying effort.
Arjen Robben, 33, scored twice in a 2-0 win over the Swedes in Amsterdam and said afterwards he was retiring from international football.
Switzerland became one of the eight European nations who must fight through the playoffs for a spot in Russia.
The others are Italy, Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
Greece locked up second place behind Belgium in Group H courtesy of a 4-0 stroll against Gibraltar.
The US failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 on Tuesday, crashing to a shock 2-1 defeat against already-eliminated Trinidad and Tobago.