An emotional Lionel Scaloni broke down in tears after Argentina completed one of the great World Cup comebacks, fighting back from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 in Atlanta on 7 July and reach the quarter finals.
Struggling to compose himself in a brief post-match interview with Telemundo, the Argentina head coach said: “I can’t lift my gaze, I’m sorry, I’m very emotional. What a group of players, brother. That’s it, I have to go, leave it.”
Assistant coach Roberto “Raton” Ayala took over the interview when Scaloni had to walk away. “The soul is coming back into the body a little. Thank you to these guys, who really give us that. That’s what they are. They never tire, they always want more, and they’re capable of doing these things,” Ayala said. “They were hurting, but they knew, they promised each other they had to go out with their heads held high. Another display from an incredible group.”
Yasser Ibrahim headed Egypt into a 15th minute lead, rising above Lisandro Martinez to convert Marwan Attia’s delivery to the back post. Lionel Messi then saw a first half penalty saved by Mostafa Shobeir, before Mostafa Ziko doubled Egypt’s advantage in the 67th minute, becoming the first African nation to lead the defending champions by two goals in a World Cup match. Argentina had lost all 13 of their previous World Cup matches when trailing by two goals, a run they finally ended in the space of four second half minutes, Cristian Romero heading in from a Messi delivery before the captain thundered a shot in off the crossbar, his eighth goal of the tournament and 21st of his World Cup career, extending his all time scoring record.
There was still time for one final twist. Lautaro Martinez, impressive since coming off the bench, raced onto Julian Alvarez’s pass before delivering a cross for Enzo Fernandez to head home in the second minute of stoppage time, the 3,000th goal in World Cup history and the latest winning goal ever scored by an Argentinian player in normal time.
According to Opta’s win probability data, Argentina had just a 0.6 per cent chance of winning at the moment Romero’s goal made it 2-1, having trailed as late as the 78th minute, the latest any side has come back from two goals down to win a World Cup match without extra time. Messi, who equalled Miroslav Klose’s record of 14 World Cup knockout appearances on the day, became the first player in tournament history to miss two penalties at a single edition, though he atoned in style, extending his scoring run to nine consecutive World Cup matches and six consecutive knockout games.
