World Cup: Match 52 - Argentina vs. Mexico

Historically, Mexico has been the solid team that always makes it out of the group stage and then no further. In the 2006 World Cup, they were eliminated in the second round by Argentina on a stinger missile shot by Maxi Rodriguez...in extra time. And who did they face this time? None other than Argentina. Poor, poor Mexico...

Argentina kicked off the scoring with a little love from FIFA, who failed to see the five meters between Tevez and the last two defenders. I blame the goal on Oscar Perez, the Mexican keeper, who let the ball squirt out straight to Messi for the unhesitating chip that placed the ball directly on the head of Tevez (26'). Not ten minutes later, Mexico absolutely undid themselves when defender Ricardo Osorio passed it to Higuain, who dribbled around the keeper while being fouled from behind to put Argentina up 2-0 (33'). I wouldn't be surprised if he was met with a horrible accident when he returned home...

Tevez capped it off in the 52nd minute with a blistering shot from distance--one of the best goals of the tournament. 22-year old Javier Hernandez scored a consolation goal for Mexico (71') on a beautiful outside-of-the-foot turn inside the box, finished with a stunning shot to the roof of the net. Promise for a brighter future, perhaps???

Messi still hasn't scored in this tournament, but he has been behind almost every single one of Argentina's goals. Let's go through them:

1. Heinze's header vs. Nigeria - Not involved, but he definitely peppers the goal throughout the game
2. South Korea's own goal - Messi plays the curving ball into the box that deflects off the defender's shinguard
3. Higuain's 1st goal vs. South Korea - Messi passes to Rodriguez who plays it into the box
4. Higuain's 2nd goal vs. South Korea - Messi shoots, keeper blocks, Messi shoots again, off the post, Higuain taps it in
5. Higuain's 3rd goal vs. South Korea - Messi draws 4! defenders at the top of the box, chips it over them to Aguero, who finds Higuain all alone in the box. Why? Because all the defenders were marking Messi, of course!
6. Demichelis goal vs. Greece - not involved
7. Palermo goal vs. Greece - Messi on the give-and-go, Messi does them dirty, Messi's shot is blocked and Palermo slides it passed the downed keeper
8. Tevez's 1st goal vs. Mexico - Messi tries the through ball, blocked by the keeper, chips it to Tevez one-time for the header goal
9. Higuain's goal vs. Mexico - The Mexican defender was looking at Messi when he gave it away to Higuain. Maybe Messi's dribble is not the only thing mesmeric about him...
10. Tevez's 2nd goal vs. Mexico - Not involved

Ok, that's 7/10 with 3 assists. I'm too lazy to review all the highlights, but I'm pretty sure Messi has already hit the post 5 times and challenged the keeper at least as much. Even if he isn't scoring goals, he's drawing away defenders, beating players on the dribble, playing brilliant through balls, peppering the goal with shots on target: in summary, he's really living up to his expectations. Even if Messi does not score a single goal this World Cup, the "diminutive" captain will still undoubtedly have been Argentina's best player.