The Atlanta stadium was the scene of one of the most thrilling moments of this World Cup: Argentina was on the brink of elimination but orchestrated an epic turnaround against Egypt, winning 3-2 after being two goals down. Roy Keane was left speechless with the emotion of what he witnessed, while Gary Neville did not hold back in his criticism of Lisandro Martínez, the Manchester United defender, despite the reigning champions' victory.
The team led by Lionel Scaloni fell behind when Yasser Ibrahim jumped higher than Lisandro Martínez and headed the ball into the net, putting Egypt in front. The Argentine nightmare worsened in the 67th minute when Mostafa Zico finished off a lightning-fast counterattack, extending Egypt's lead. Lionel Messi even missed a penalty that could have levelled the score, but Argentina refused to throw in the towel.
In an absolutely frantic finish, Cristian Romero set the stage for the comeback by reducing the deficit. Goals followed from Messi and Enzo Fernández in an impressive 13-minute span that completely turned the tide of the match. The final whistle sealed one of the greatest comebacks in the recent history of the Argentine national team, leaving La Albiceleste through to the quarter-finals.
In the aftermath of the match, Roy Keane, a Manchester United legend, confessed to ITV Sport: “My voice is gone. I loved this. Yesterday we saw Ronaldo's sad tears. Today we see Messi's happy tears. They don’t give up. The quality of their goals was incredible. Wow. This is why we love football. Absolutely amazing.” Paul Robinson, former England goalkeeper, shared his astonishment on BBC Sport: “It was incredible. Spectacular. Argentina was out, they were eliminated at one point. Egypt is extremely frustrated with the unfavorable refereeing decisions. They had a second goal disallowed before they scored to make it 2-0, for a foul almost by their sideline. Then, Messi showed up and took over the game. Wonderful assist, great finish on his goal, and the substitutions worked for Argentina. So many subplots and stories in this game.”
On the other hand, Gary Neville did not overlook Lisandro Martínez's mistake in the build-up to Egypt's first goal, analyzing the moment in the ITV Sport studio: “It’s surprising because he usually is the best. Given his stature, he is always very aware of physical contact and proximity. It was a great cross to the far post, but if we look at it here… he is close, almost battling with Ibrahim, and then suddenly he switches off. Maybe he was thinking of stepping up to leave the striker offside with the defensive line. He’s tight, he’s tight, and that’s what he does well, but then he switches off for a second. Maybe he thought they were going to step up, but it was an excellent cross, a great header.”
Argentina will now face the winner of the match between Switzerland and Colombia in the quarter-finals, and could even meet England in the semi-finals if the English team overcomes Norway on Saturday. The World Cup continues to surprise, and the promise of new dramatic chapters remains open.
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