Kansas City, quarterfinals. Argentina had barely started playing against Switzerland when referee João Pinheiro called a foul in favor of the European team. Messi, who was already taking his place in the wall, did not stay silent.
He stood right in front of him and said it plainly: “Speak to me properly, speak to me with respect. Speak to me properly, I spoke to you properly”. The Argentine captain did not shout or push — he asked for something much simpler, and that is why it hit so hard.
What came next was a roller coaster: an elbow from Xhaka opened a cut near his eye, but he ended up providing the equalizing assist to reach 10 in World Cups. In extra time, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez sealed the 3-1. Argentina are already thinking about England, the next stop on the road to the final.