Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez have expressed their delight after Argentina secured their place in the 2022 World Cup final courtesy of a 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia on Tuesday night.
Messi and Alvarez (2) were both on the scoresheet at the Lusail Stadium as La Albiceleste ran out comfortable winners against the 2018-runners up.
Argentina's No.10 opened the scoring with a powerful penalty kick in the 34th minute, before Alvarez double their lead just five minutes later with a stunning solo effort that began inside his own half.
Messi and Alvarez then combined for Argentina's third in the 69th minute, with the former expertly weaving his way past Croatia's star defender Josko Gvardiol on the byline before picking out the latter to slot home from close range.
Argentina have now progressed to the World Cup final for the sixth time in their history and Lionel Scaloni's side will face either France or Morocco in Sunday's showpiece event.
Jubilant scenes were sparked in the stands and on the pitch as soon as the full-time whistle blew, and Argentina captain Messi believes that they are experiencing "something spectacular" as their quest for glory reaches its climax.
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Speaking to reporters after the match, the 35-year-old said: "I feel many things, it's very exciting to see all this. Seeing the people, the family throughout the World Cup was something incredible. We're going for the last game, which was what we wanted.
"We've been through tough situations, other very good ones. Today we're experiencing something spectacular. I'm enjoying all these people and all the Argentines who are in our country. I imagine it must all be crazy. Argentina is, once again, in the final of the World Cup. Enjoy!".
Messi has also heaped praise on manager Scaloni and his coaching staff, adding: "This group is very intelligent, they know how to read the moments of each game. Scaloni said it: they know how to suffer when they have to suffer and have the ball when they have to.
"We have a very good coaching staff, who leave nothing to chance. The reading they do of each game afterward happens. We didn't despair when we had to run from one place to the other, we knew that possession was [Croatia's] forte.
"We knew they were going to have a lot of the ball because they have very good players in the middle, but we prepared the game well."
Meanwhile, Manchester City man Alvarez believes that Argentina deserve to be in the World Cup final, adding: "I'm happy, we deserved this. We're in the final and that's what we wanted. Now to rest and try to have a great game on Sunday.
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"In my family they must all be crazy, as in the whole country I imagine. We will try to go for everything".
Alvarez has now scored four goals in his last four starts at this year's tournament in Qatar and at the age of 22 years and 316 days has become the youngest player since Brazil icon Pele (17 years and 249 days) to score a brace in either a World Cup semi-final or final.
Messi, meanwhile, has broken a plethora of records at the 2022 World Cup and his opening goal against Croatia has seen him surpass Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's all-time record scorer on the biggest international stage with 11 goals.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker has also become the first player in history to both score and assist in four separate World Cup games, while his assist for Alvarez has seen him equal legendary compatriot Diego Maradona's all-time World Cup record of eight assists in the competition.
In addition, Messi has moved on to five goals in six matches in Qatar, drawing him level with France star Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot.
Messi is now just one victory away from winning his first World Cup and emulating Maradona, who steered Argentina to their last triumph in the competition back in 1986.
Oliver Thomas
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