Messi's football IQ outsmarts England in World Cup semi-final

England pride themselves on their physicality, so shouldn't it have suited them to face a 39-year-old who spends most of his time walking? Well, that's not quite how it turned out. Lionel Messi is less athletic compared to his younger self, but his footballing intelligence makes up for the physical drop-off. As England conceded control of the World Cup semi-final because of their own fatigue and Thomas Tuchel's in-game changes, veteran Messi strolled authoritatively and effectively served as Argentina's on-field coach. In the first half, England looked to press Argentina high. Wingers Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers were tasked with pressing the two Argentina central defenders, angling their body in a way that made finding the full-backs harder for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and his centre-backs, Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez. For Argentina, it felt like the simpler passes were on through the middle, but in playing these they fell into England's trap early on. Jude Bellingham was positioned deeper than expected, asked to pay close attention to Enzo Fernandez. Declan Rice did the same with Alexis Mac Allister, and Elliot Anderson found himself paired up to Messi. England wanted to physically bully Argentina when the World Cup holders tried to play their famously central-focused football. The England midfield trio, showing energy early on, did well to stifle Argentina. Anderson in particular was snappy, early to his duels, smothering Messi well. But Messi, like Fernandez and Mac Allister, began to grow into the game. Argentina's captain started to take deeper positions, posing Anderson a dilemma: how far should he follow him? Messi's walking pace, a tool of great deception, came in handy here too. From almost a standing start, Messi would burst into life, darting towards the ball. With the defending side having to react to these sudden movements, the advantage was increasingly with Argentina, especially as England's press faded with tiredness. England scored through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute and held the lead for half an hour. Fernandez struck a brilliant equaliser in the 85th minute, after Messi picked him out near the edge of the penalty area. Lautaro Martinez then won the game in stoppage time with a header from Messi's cross. Between Gordon's goal and Argentina's equaliser, England had only 12% of the ball, meaning they spent most of the second half defending in deep positions. It became a tussle of Argentina's attack versus England's defence, which lived a charmed life for a while. Argentina persisted though, with Messi exploiting weaknesses in England's structure and flaws in individual players' habits to inspire his side's comeback. After getting some joy against Messi early, Anderson's front-footed approach became less effective as Messi adapted on the fly to his direct opponent's playing style. In fact, Messi began to use Anderson's aggression against him. He held the ball as long as possible, drawing the 23-year-old out, before flicking it around the corner for teammates, knowing there was now space to attack in the zone Anderson had vacated. For Argentina's opening goal, Messi, after playing a one-two following a short corner, took advantage of Anderson's willingness to engage in duels again. As Messi dribbled in-field, Anderson left his central position to double up on the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner. Messi cleverly delayed his pass, releasing it only after attracting players towards him, which allowed Fernandez plenty of space to gather the ball, pick his target and strike decisively at goal without being challenged. England focused on blocking space centrally, looking to defend their lead and stop Argentina playing their natural game. But Messi's spatial awareness and ability to create tension pulled England apart. The result: Argentina return to another World Cup final, thanks to the enduring genius of their captain.