ITV's punditry team of Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville have gone to war with Peter Walton over Argentina's penalty against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
Julian Alvarez was deemed to have been barged over by Croatia keeper Dominic Livakovic, though none of the ITTV team believed that it should have been given as a foul.
"Is he just supposed to get out of the way of the ball?" Neville questioned, as Walton said that Livakovic had to get a touch of the ball in order to not give the penalty away. Wright, meanwhile, was dismayed, simply saying, "Wow," as Walton explained.
Argentina have one foot in the final... and it's that man again!! 🤩🇦🇷Lionel Messi overtakes Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's top scorer at World Cup finals with 11 goals! 🙌#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/C8haTlVGb1December 13, 2022
It was Croatia who started the better in this one, despite Argentina altering formation to cope with the midfield triumvirate of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic. The European side looked much the calmer team in the opening stages, while Lionel Messi – matching Lothar Matthaus’s 24-year record for all-time World Cup appearances by playing tonight – was barely given a sniff in the early exchanges.
Of course, it had to be Lionel Messi who opened the scoring. Before tonight, the Albiceleste captain had been given three opportunities from the spot during the World Cup – two in normal play, one in a shootout – scoring all three. This one might have been the best of the lot, with the ball walloped into the top corner to beat Livakovic.
It wasn’t long before it was 2-0. Manchester City attacker Julian Alvarez, who won the penalty minutes earlier, ran down the pitch at breakneck speed to convert for Argentina’s second. There was some luck involved for sure but it was one of the best solo goals of the World Cup so far.
