Messi's performance in the 2005 U-20 World Cup

After getting some games in the senior team at Barcelona in the 2004/05 season, and even scoring his first goal in the league, Messi was called up for the U-20 World Cup, having previously qualified via the U-20 Sudamericano, where Messi was Argentina's top scorer.

His first game was against the USA, who had Freddy Adu, a young promise only 16 years old. He was subbed in at half-time as Argentina was losing 1-0, but he unfortunately couldn't turn the game around and they lost the game 1-0 at full time.

His second game was against Egypt, who was the runner-up to the African Youth Championship. He made a great run in the beginning but it unfortunately hit the crossbar. Early on in the second half, he received a good pass from Barroso that Messi converted easily. He later received a dangerous foul (high foot hit his shoulder). He then made another good run to the box but the keeper saved his shot. He was subbed off for Biglia 83 minutes in, and Zabaleta scored in the last minute to consolidated Argentina's win 2-0.

His last game in the group stage was against Germany. He was through on goal at the 43rd minute, but he instead passed it to Cardozo, who converted the chance. Not much changed in the second half, so after Messi was subbed off for Biglia at the 82nd minute, Argentina ended up winning the game 1-0 and went to the R16 as 2nd in their group (behind the USA).

Entering the knockout stages, Messi faced Colombia, the recent Sudamericano U-20 champion, as his first challenge. In the beginning, he made a good pass to Agüero but he couldn't convert the chance. In the second half, Otálvaro gave Colombia the lead at the 52nd minute, but Messi reacted shortly after, making a quick chest control with the ball and making a run to the box, passing the ball to Cardozo who rapidly gave him the ball back, and shot it straight to the near post which easily found the net. He later had a good chance with an unmarked shot to goal but it went to the keeper's hands and he saved the shot. In the last minute of the game, Barroso scored the winner to send Argentina to the quarter-finals.

Their opponent in the quarter-finals was Spain, the champion of the 2004 U-19 Euro. He scored early on with a good free-kick but it was annulled due to a passive offside from one of his teammates. Then, a header from him came close to goal, but it couldn't find the net. Zabaleta scored Argentina's 1st goal afterward, but Zapater equalized for Spain. Once again, Messi had a good chance to score after making a run to the box and receiving a good pass, but his lob shot went just wide.

In the second half, he made a delightful trough-ball to Oberman, who chipped the goalkeeper and gave Argentina the lead once again. And only 2 minutes later, he intercepted a pass, and after some good ball control, got rid of his 2 markers and did a great shot to the far post, finding the net. It was an amazing goal, and certainly one of his best in 2005. There was not much else to detail in the game, so Argentina went through to the semi-finals with a 3-1 win.

Their semi-final matchup was their main rival, Brazil. Messi scored early on a great goal to give Argentina the lead. He then pre-assisted Cardozo's goal, but he was offside so it was canceled. In the second half, Renato equalized the game at the 75th minute, but in the dying minutes of the game, he made a good run to the box and made a cross, which his target couldn't convert but Zabaleta did in the rebound to send Argentina to the final.

In the final, Messi faced Nigeria, the African Youth Championship champion, another tough rival. He made some good runs in the first half, but not much to detail until he won a penalty due to a foul from Adeleye. He converted the penalty and celebrated by revealing his shirt, which translated to "For Mari-Bruno-Tomi-Agus", which was his sister, brother, and nephews, in order. The second half would be more of the same, as he made some good runs but his highlight was converting yet another penalty. He almost scored from a very tight angle after going past the keeper, but it was saved on the line. Not much else happened for the rest of the game, so Argentina won the final 2-1 with two crucial penalties converted by Messi.

As we can see, Messi made an amazing performance in this tournament, which rightfully won him the Golden Ball as well as the Golden Boot, winning the tournament as well. He scored 6 goals and made 2 assists for a total 8 G/A (1.26 per 90). I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.