‘Standout’ Alvarez complements his idol

There was a poignant moment at the end of Argentina's victory over Croatia. Julian Alvarez, who scored two goals in the 3-0 victory, went to his team's dugout and was hugged by Lautaro Martinez, who was almost in tears.

Those tears that he tried to suffocate were certainly not tears of grief but of joy instead as Alvarez did what was expected of Martinez, the automatic choice in the first eleven till the second match of the campaign.

But as Martinez failed in both matches with Argentina's fate hanging in the balance, coach Lionel Scaloni decided to throw in the 22-year-old, thus far used as a second-half substitute, in the last group game against Poland.

The Manchester City forward hadn't quite lit the Premier League on fire, with chances few and far between in the shadows of Erling Haaland. He's also a bit of a newcomer in the Argentina team, behind Martinez and Paulo Dybala in the pecking order. But when shown faith by the coach, Alvarez grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win against Poland. And he has not looked back since.

He scored one more against a sticky Australia side in the Round of 16 and then bagged a brace against Croatia on Tuesday, becoming the youngest player to score two in a World Cup semi-final or final since 17-year-old Pele in 1958.

Apart from scoring crucial goals, what Alvarez is doing is important for the team is taking the pressure off Lionel Messi. He is taking on a lot of defensive duties and allowing Messi to give his best with the ball on his feet.

Messi himself admitted Alvarez's contribution. Although Messi got the player-of-the-match award for scoring one and setting up another against Croatia, there wouldn't have been many arguing the choice had the award gone to the youngster.

"Today I think Julian was a standout above all else. He played an extraordinary game," Messi said after the match. "He opened the way for us, he fought, he ran, he hit everyone. I think he was extremely important as he has been throughout the World Cup."

An old picture has gone viral on social media since Tuesday night, that of a purportedly 12-year-old Alvarez and his mates taking a selfie with their idol – Lionel Messi. Ten years later, the fanboy and the idol are sharing the same dressing room and complementing each other, scoring and setting up goals as they carry Argentina towards the ultimate glory.