‘He became a beast’: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stunning verdict on Lionel Messi after Argentina comeback

Argentine Lionel Messi (10) (AP photo) Argentina’s thrilling comeback win over Egypt in the last 16 of the World Cup drew praise from across the footballing world, with Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic reserving special admiration for Lionel Messi after another decisive performance.The defending champions looked on the verge of a shock when they went 2-0 down in the 67th minute. But Argentina responded in stunning fashion, scoring three goals in 13 minutes through Cristiano Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernandez to secure a dramatic 3-2 win and book their place in the quarter-finals.Despite missing a penalty in the first half, Messi again delivered when it mattered most, scoring a decisive equalizer before inspiring Argentina to a late turnaround.In an interview with Fox Sports after the match, Ibrahimovic said that Messi improved his game when his team needed him the most.“He became an animal and nobody could catch him. He just kept going and kept going and…, and this is the one I saw, we’re used to seeing and we still see each other. So you can also see how emotional he is, how much it means to him. Remember he’s already won this World Cup. He’s already won a lot of trophies, a lot of Ballon d’Or, his CV and here’s his FIFA player look and I just deserve it.” perfect, but he still wants it, and that’s impressive.Messi’s goal also saw an extraordinary run at football’s biggest tournament continue.The Argentina captain has now scored in nine consecutive FIFA World Cup matches, becoming the first player in the tournament’s history to do so. His strike against Egypt was his eighth goal of the ongoing edition, making it his highest-scoring World Cup campaign.The goal also extended Messi’s all-time World Cup record to 21 goals and became the first player to score in six consecutive knockout games at the tournament.The 39-year-old also equaled Guillermo Stabile’s long-standing Argentine record of eight goals in a single World Cup, first set in 1930.Behind the goal, Messi gave another complete attacking performance. He became only the second Argentina player after Diego Maradona to score, complete at least five dribbles and create five or more chances from open play in a World Cup match.It was an especially memorable performance considering his difficult start to the night. Messi saw a penalty saved in the first half, becoming the first player to miss two penalties in the same edition of the World Cup, excluding shootouts. He has now missed four penalties in his career at the FIFA World Cup, the most of any player in the competition’s history.Even after that setback, however, Messi again proved decisive, helping Argentina to one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history and keeping their hopes of defending the title alive.