Lionel Messi could not contain his emotions at the final whistle as Argentina staged a sensational late comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 in the Round of 16. After watching old rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar suffer painful exits in previous matches, the Inter Miami star shed tears of joy as the reigning champions secured their place in the quarter-finals.
At the final whistle, after Argentina's victory over Egypt was confirmed, he let out all his tension and broke down in tears as if he hadn't already won everything in football, as if nothing else mattered, or as if it were the first time.
The match had everything. Argentina trailed 2-0 with just over ten minutes of regulation remaining, staring down one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. And then Messi took over. He set up Cristian Romero's header to make it 2-1. He scored himself four minutes later, a clinical finish that made him the first player in history to score in six consecutive World Cup knockout matches. Then Enzo Fernández headed home a cross from Lautaro Martínez in stoppage time to complete a comeback that left the football world speechless.
Lautaro Martínez summed it up perfectly after the match. "He deserved to cry," he said of Messi. "Because he is our example, our guide, the one who helped us the most."
For Messi, the images of his emotional celebration will serve as a defining moment of this World Cup, illustrating that even after all his success, the hunger to win with his country remains as strong as ever.
Ronaldo had cried in defeat in Dallas 24 hours earlier. Neymar had cried in defeat in New Jersey the night before that. On Tuesday in Atlanta, Messi cried in victory and the difference between those two sets of tears tells you everything about where he stands above them all at this moment in time.
The dream of back-to-back World Cups is alive. Messi is alive. And that image of the greatest footballer who ever lived, flat on the Atlanta grass with tears streaming down his face, is already the photograph of this entire tournament.
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