While You Were Asleep: Messi sets 4 new records, Dalic says penalty call ‘very suspicious,’ Sancho not ready to play for Man United, sats Ten Hag
It was just another day in the office for Lionel Messi. He put in another sensational performance for Argentina as they reached the World Cup final with a convincing 3-0 victory over Croatia.
During the match, Messi chalked up four new records to his name. The penalty he scored in the 11th minute of the game made him Argentina’s top World Cup scorer of all time. He broke the long standing record of Gabriel Batuta.
The magical ass he provided to Julian Alvarez for the third goal was his ninth making him the record World Cup ass provider for his nation, moving past Diego Maradona’s record.
Messi has now both scored and assed a goal in four different World Cup games. He became first player in World Cup hory to both score and ass in four separate matches.
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⚽ Lionel #Messi y todos sus gritos en la Selección @Argentina 🇦🇷
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— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) December 14, 2022
Messi made his 25th World Cup outing against Croatia, which saw him equal former Germany stalwart Lothar Matthaus for the most appearances in the competition’s hory .
Dalic on penalty
Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic described the first goal, the penalty Messi scored as “very suspicious.”
The penalty was awarded after Julian Alvarez collided with Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic inside the area.
“I will not say that we will be objecting to the referees (but) I think the first goal took the match in a different direction,” said Dalic.
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“We played well for half an hour but we were not specific in our actions. We conceded a goal which was very suspicious.
“First the situation for the corner — according to the reaction of my players, the referee didn’t call it. Then the situation with the penalty. It was a little bit too cheap and too easy, to be honest. Then we tried to go back and we conceded a second goal. We had ball possession but we made no specific opportunities.”
“They had control over us and the ball possession was not in our hands. We had a corner that was called the referee and then a counter-attack where our goalkeeper did what he did and these new rules…” he added.
Erik ten Hag on Jadan Sancho
Erik ten Hag has admitted he does not know when Jadon Sancho, will return to trainning.
Sancho has been working in Holland with coaches trusted his manager Erik ten Hag, having not kicked a ball for United since October 22 due to illness. The 22-year-old missed the club’s training camp in Spain last week after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Cup.
Explaining Sancho’s absence from the Spanish trip, Ten Hag added: ‘He wasn’t fit enough to be there. It’s a combination of physically and mentally.’
“That is what we are doing now to try to get him back there. It is a combination of physically and mentally,” said Ten Hag.
“I’ve had several talks with Jadon and I don’t think he will be back this week, no,’ said Ten Hag. ‘Sometimes there are circumstances with fitness and mood. Now he’s on a physical programme and our aim is to get him back as quickly as possible. But I can’t give a prognosis of when that will be.”Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Sancho has only scored eight goals and contributed four asss in 52 games for United. He has struggled to justify the £73million paid to Borussia Dortmund to sign him in July last year
