Gary Neville In The ‘Mud’ After Lionel Messi World Cup Comment Backfires

After suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Argentina had it all to do at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar. After a nervous first half, Lionel Scaloni’s side rose to the occasion late on and can top Group C with a victory over Poland next week.

Messi opened the scoring in the 64th minute after firing a fierce strike past Guillermo Ochoa from outside of the box. Sought-after star Enzo Fernandez then put the game to bed with a sensational curling effort with three minutes to go.

The goals never looked like they would come for Argentina at half-time though, with Messi struggling to influence proceedings. Speaking during the break, Neville criticized Lionel Messi, saying: “Players aren’t fearful of Lionel Messi anymore. They are taking the ball off him easily.”

He’s walking around the pitch, he’s shrugging his shoulders at them.”

Just 19 minutes after the restart, though, Messi provided adoring fans with just another reason why he is widely regarded as one of the best to ever grace a football pitch. The 35-year-old held his run on the edge of the box to receive a pass from Angel Di Maria before taking one touch and drilling the ball into the far corner.

The goal silenced those that doubted that the Paris Saint-Germain star still had the spark to make his mark on the biggest stage of all, and proved that opposition sides should still be ‘fearful’ of his ability. And this wasn’t the first time that Neville was left with egg on his face in Qatar.