Argentina defender Cristian Romero has revealed that captain Lionel Messi predicted the exact scoreline ahead of their FIFA World Cup win over Algeria. In front of a capacity crowd at Kansas City Stadium, the defending champions registered a comfortable 3-0 triumph on June 16.
Romero said the 38-year-old talisman had predicted the result in a prediction game played among the squad beforehand. The centre-back, fresh from a troublesome knee injury at Tottenham Hotspur, was delighted when he revealed his skipper’s uncanny foresight, telling a journalist (via @AlbicelesteTalk):
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“It looks like Messi wanted to win the prediction contest, because he predicted we’d win 3-0.”
Lionel Messi rewrote FIFA World Cup history during that game, completing his first-ever hat-trick in the tournament. In the 17th minute, he opened the scoring with a thunderbolt from distance after being played in by Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul.
The captain made it two on the hour, latching onto a loose rebound after a shot from Alexis Mac Allister was spilled by goalkeeper Luca Zidane. He got his hat-trick in the 76th minute, setting himself and then neatly firing into the bottom corner.
Lionel Messi’s three goals brought him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 strikes at the top of the all-time FIFA World Cup scoring charts. The forward was eventually subbed off to a standing ovation.
Lionel Scaloni hails Lionel Messi after Argentina’s FIFA World Cup opener
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni was once more left searching for fresh superlatives, freely admitting that his captain’s continuing brilliance is just beyond rational explanation. He told the press afterwards (via ESPN):
“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He’s incredible.”
Lionel Messi celebrated his 200th international appearance and has delivered these moments consistently for a full two decades. Scaloni added:
“It’s not about imagining if he could have a start like this. He’s been doing this for 20 years. People who watch football want to see him, it’s not just Argentines. Beyond the result, we have to enjoy him. What he transmits to the world is incredible.”
However, the World Cup-winning boss was quick to warn his players against any creeping sense of complacency despite the scoreline:
“We’re not going to get complacent; it strengthens us to know that if we do things right and work like we did today, we’ll make it tough for them to beat us.”
Argentina prepare to face Austria on June 22 before finishing off their FIFA World Cup Group J campaign against Jordan.
Edited by Nnanna Mba
