Atlanta [US], July 8 : Following Argentina's sensational comeback win over Egypt in their round of 16 clash, former AC Milan and Sweden football icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic hailed World Cup-winning icon Lionel Messi for his performance, remarking that "he became an animal and nobody could catch him".
He lauded the man who has won it all in the world of football for still wanting to win the FIFA World Cup.
After missing a penalty in the first half and Egypt gaining a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute, perhaps many electronic devices were just minutes away from being turned off. However, Messi and his team believed. With every step, pass, cross and goal coming forward, they wrote down one of the greatest comeback stories in the tournament's history. Argentina fired three goals in 13 minutes, sealing the quarterfinal spot in a memorable match.
Speaking on Fox Sports afterwards, Zlatan said on Messi, as quoted by DAZN Football, "He became an animal, and nobody could catch him. He just went on, went on and..., and this is the one I saw, we are used to seeing, and we are still seeing. So, you can also see how emotional he is, how much it means to him. Remember, he already won this World Cup. He already won a lot of trophies, a lot of Ballon d'Or, FIFA Player of the Year. Everything. I can sit here and just give his CV and... and it looks perfect, but he still wants it. He still wants it and that's impressive. Look at him."
Messi continued his monumental streak in the FIFA World Cup, as he extended his record of scoring in a World Cup match to nine successive matches.
Messi is now the first-ever player to score in nine successive FIFA World Cup matches. With his strike in the 83rd minute, he has taken his goal tally in the ongoing FIFA World Cup to eight goals, his most productive World Cup ever in terms of goals and extended his newly-made record of highest goals in the tournament's history to 21 goals.
As per OptaJoe, Messi has also become the first-ever player in tournament history to score in six successive knockout stage matches.
He also levelled with the record of Guillermo Stabile (1930) for most goals in a single FIFA World Cup edition by an Argentina player with a total of eight each.
Also, he joined late Argentina icon Diego Maradona to become the second player to score, produce five-plus dribbles and five open play chances in a FIFA World Cup match, putting on a remarkable well-rounded performance despite a penalty miss.
Having missed a penalty in the first half, Messi showed us that despite the 'God' status given to him by billions of his fans, he is a human being after all, becoming the first player to miss two penalties in a single World Cup edition (excluding the shootouts). Messi has missed four penalties in the FIFA World Cup throughout his career, the most by any player.