Lionel Messi's penalty for Argentina against Croatia wasn't down to luck. It was all thanks to the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's detailed research.
La Albiceleste ran out comfortable 3-0 winners on Tuesday evening, with Messi opening the scoring from the penalty spot.
Julian Alvarez was brought down by Dominik Livakovic just past the half-hour mark to give Lionel Scaloni's side the perfect opportunity to go ahead.
Livakovic is no slouch when it comes to penalties, however. The Dinamo Zagreb shot-stopper helped his country to shootout wins over Japan and Brazil in the previous two rounds.
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Messi's record from the spot isn't perfect in Qatar. He had a penalty saved against Poland in the group stages, proving even one of the best in the world isn't perfect from 12 yards out.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar made no mistakes against Croatia. Messi fired his penalty high into the top right corner. Although Livakovic dived the right way, there was too much power on the shot.
Messi has since revealed the level of planning that went into preparing for his foes in midweek.
He sat down with Argentina goalkeepers Emiliano Martinez and Geronimo Rulli to go through Livakovic's routines step by step.
The trio noticed how long the 27-year-old waited until diving, which is why Messi took a straight run-up with zero hesitation.
Messi told reporters: "I studied the Croatian goalkeeper's technique with Rulli and with Dibu [Martinez]. We talked about how he waited a lot.
"The best thing to do was to surprise and hit him at once, instead of waiting and holding him. When they hold him for a long time, it's difficult. I was determined to kick like that."
Argentina doubled their lead five minutes later thanks to a sublime solo effort from Alvarez.
The Manchester City forward scored his second and Argentina's third in the second half after Messi completely spun Josko Gvardiol.
Messi knew Croatia were vulnerable on the counter, something he point out in his post-match interview.
He said: “This is a very wise squad. We know what to do in every second of the game. We knew the Croatians would have the ball possession but we knew this could be our strength. Sometimes they are disordered when they lose the ball and they left many spaces."
Argentina will now face France in the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon. Messi will be up against PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe who is looking to guide his nation to back-to-back World Cup wins.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Croatia, Football World Cup
Daniel Marland