Argentina vs Belgium: Messi walks towards his throne

By the standards witnessed during this tournament, the World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and Belgium was a slight disappointment. Once again the impressive roster of creative attacking talents on both sides did not muster the performance which their individual reputations promised. The Golden Generation of Belgium, while a definite improvement over its recent predecessors, has looked less sterling as a team alongside quality opponents. They looked to be worth their weight for a Quarterfinal place, but not more.

Meanwhile, coming into the game, it could be said that the stellar attacking lineup of Argentina had been even more underwhelming. With Sergio Agüero sidelined, and the loss of Ángel Di María after 30 minutes into the first half, this could have turned into a bad day at the office. Fortunately for Alejandro Sabella's men, the erstwhile lackadaisical Gonzalo Higuain scored an instinctive volley early in the game, and from there on Argentina had Belgium right where they wanted them. Perhaps more importantly for the Argentine players, it seemed to stem the niggling insecurity of being overly reliant on Lionel Messi. Finally, someone else had stepped up with a piece of match-winning skill. It obviously rejuvenated Higuain, and brought out a storming run in the second half which surprized everyone (including Vincent Kompany) and nearly produced one of the goals of the tournament.
With the supporting cast on song, and relieved of having to rush out a winning goal, Messi patrolled the middle of the park with an imperious swagger, alternately walking deep to pick up the ball, teasing opponents who fail to dislodge it off him, and spraying the occasional killer pass. If he had been off form in the past season with Barcelona, he is definitely back now. Things are shaping up ominously for Messi to finally cement his place in the pantheon of the Kings.