RJ Hamster
SI:AM | Lionel Messi (and Argentina) Did It Again
DAN GARTLAND
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I don’t know what I’m going to do today without any World Cup games to watch.
In today’s SI:AM:
And then there were eight
Brett Davis/Imagn Images
Allow me to pose an impossible question: What has been the best game at this World Cup? Argentina-Cabo Verde? Belgium-Senegal? England-Mexico? Brazil-Norway? Algeria-Austria?
They all have a case, but the answer might be the epic comeback that we saw Argentina pull off yesterday afternoon against Egypt. Lionel Messi’s side trailed 2–0 with just over 20 minutes left to play but kept their hopes of a World Cup repeat alive with a pair of goals in quick succession to tie it, followed by a stoppage-time winner. (Messi scored the second goal in the 83rd minute with a perfect one-touch finish.)
For the defending champions to struggle so mightily against a team composed primarily of players from the Egyptian domestic league was stunning. But Egypt looked like the better team for much of the game and might have pulled off the upset if not for a couple of controversial officiating decisions. First, Egypt had a goal overturned by VAR in the 58th minute due to a foul committed on the other end of the field. Then, just before Enzo Fernández’s winner, Egypt thought there should have been a foul called on Mohamed Salah in the box, but no VAR check was ordered.
Egypt’s manager didn’t mince words after the match. CONTINUE DAN’S COLUMN ON SI
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👀 The top five …
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Haissem Hassan’s run on Egypt’s goal that got overturned by VAR.
4. Royals utilityman Tyler Tolbert’s 12th straight plate appearance with a hit, tying an MLB record.
3. The Royals’ hilariously dreadful defensethat allowed the Mets to score three runs on a dribbler back to the mound. (Kansas City went on to win by the preposterous score of 16–12.)
2. Shohei Ohtani’s 300th career homer.
1. Leandro Paredes’s tackle to stop a 3-on-2 opportunity for Egypt in the 91st minute.
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