LUSAIL, Qatar — Lionel Messi had been waltzing about, searching for a way into Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal at the Lusail Stadium, when Croatian seas parted, and the moment arrived.
He had been stationary, one hand gnawing at his hamstring, prompting fears of an injury. He had been silent, almost as invisible as planet Earth’s greatest soccer player could possibly be. But then, over a rousing hour at the latter end of a rousing World Cup, Argentina roared.
Messi, for once, didn’t create the breakthrough, but he punctuated after his teammates concocted it from nothing.