Primal Messi flips the hourglass

Messi magic. The definition rests on something Lionel Messi does to make the difference. The fact that it has happened on so many occasions, especially in the biggest moments, places the phenomenon in the realm of the inexplicable.

For Argentina, it is becoming inevitable. Messi happened when the World Cup dream was on the brink of ending for the defending champions.

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What Argentina needed was simple. They needed two goals in 12 minutes to stay in the World Cup. They had not lost a World Cup match since their opening game of the 2022 tournament against Saudi Arabia in Qatar. Nor had they conceded the first goal in any of their World Cup matches across the 2022 and 2026 editions until Egypt did just that.

Argentina went into half-time trailing for the first time since the 2010 World Cup quarter-final against Germany. This time, Messi had missed a penalty, adding to the fears of a beautiful dream coming to an end. Even the World Cup-winning side of 2022 had not been tested like this.

"One moment of Messi magic and Argentina are alive," Peter Drury had said after Messi's magnificent strike broke the deadlock against Mexico at the 2022 World Cup.

It came when Argentina were out of ideas and inspiration. If there was ever a moment when Messi was needed, that was it. It became the defining moment of Argentina's campaign.

Then, in the final, he dominated extra time like no other, even after France's resurgence.

When the chips are down, Argentina, for better or worse, look to Messi. Yet even Messi had found no respite after his penalty miss.

On Tuesday, the chips were down as they had never been before when Egyptian midfielder Mostafa Ziko struck their second goal in the 67th minute following a flowing counterattack. Messi looked to the sky, shaking his head as Argentina seemed suffocated by what was unfolding.

For a talisman burdened by the agony of a missed penalty, the way he elevated his game with Argentina 2-0 down, their backs against the wall and time slipping away, made it feel as though there could be no better moment for Messi to become Messi.

He made that switch because the dream was slipping away.

With just 11 minutes remaining, Egypt's defence remained alert as Messi drifted to the wing to be himself. Away from the congested central midfield, he produced a pass that bypassed seven defenders whose only objective was to block the route through. While Egypt anticipated a reverse pass, Messi instead floated a ball to Cristian Romero, whose header gave Argentina hope.

Moments later, he surged down the right wing with all the hallmarks of another magical moment before finding Lautaro Martinez, whose header drifted just wide.

The unbelievable happened just four minutes later. Messi was again stationed out wide before lifting another hopeful ball into the area. As it came back to him, he was not even in the frame. Yet when it dropped, he had covered the distance to arrive on the edge of the box. Three defenders had already closed the angles, dictating where the shot should go. There appeared to be no time to strike.

The wizard was never late, nor was he early. He arrived like witchcraft itself and produced what could only be described as a trick shot. The effort flew with astonishing pace, brushing the goalkeeper's hand before finding the net anyway.

It was nothing short of unreal. It was another piece of Messi magic.

French great Thierry Henry once spoke about that switch when opponents tried to stop Messi in Barcelona training.

"Next thing you know, you look at his eyes and it switches. He scores three goals by robbing the ball off you and then turns to say, 'next time call a foul'."

"First of all he reminded us that he is human [after the missed penalty]. Then he reminds us he is not human," Henry said.

"He became an animal and nobody could catch him," former Barcelona teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic said of the spell that transformed the night.

There is a primal survivor within Messi that sometimes emerges. It does not appear every time. But when Argentina needed it most, he became exactly what they needed him to be. That it still happens at the age of 39 is another kind of sorcery altogether.