Croatia’s 20 year old centre back Josko Gvardiol has been a revelation in the FIFA World Cup this year, with the masked defender playing a major part in Croatia reaching the semifinals of the tournament.
On Tuesday night, however, he was uncharacteristically out of form when facing Argentina, especially their captain Lionel Messi. Not only did Argentina defeat Croatia by 3-0, the third goal created by Lionel Messi absolutely bamboozled Gvardiol.
His swivel and driving run to set up the third goal for Álvarez in the 69th minute left Gvardiol grasping at thin air and epitomized Messi's confidence and swagger.
Now, an old quote from 2021 has come to the fore where Gvardiol termed Messi as something that happens once in 100 years.
“Messi. I think he's something that happens once in 100 years,” he had said.
On Tuesday, Croatia failed in its bid to reach a second straight World Cup final after conceding two goals in a five-minute span from the 34th, just when the team was looking comfortable at Lusail Stadium and Messi was raising concerns by rubbing his hamstring.
Argentina, meanwhile, maintained its record of never having lost in the World Cup semifinals and has reached the final for the sixth time. They will now face France for the ultimate glory on Sunday.
Those dark days after losing to Saudi Arabia in its opening group match seem so long ago now for Argentina, which will be hard to stop in the final with Messi playing this well.