How Do You Stop Lionel Messi? Switzerland Focused On Simply Containing Argentina’s GOAT

Murat Yakin was prepared for the first question. “How can you stop [Lionel] Messi?” a reporter asked Switzerland’s manager one day before his side takes on defending champion Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals. “This is a very surprising question,” Yakin said, laughing. “First of all, there are many solutions, and we’ll try to find the best solution,” Yakin continued via an interpreter on Friday morning from Kansas City. “Tomorrow on the pitch, we will perform as a unit. We will try to make good passes and press high. We can talk a lot, but in the end, [we have to perform] on the pitch.” The 39-year-old Messi has scored eight goals in five matches at this World Cup, defying age while producing one of the most extraordinary tournaments of his career — and one of the greatest individual performances ever. The Argentine captain hasn’t hidden his emotions along the way. In the round of 16 against Egypt, he missed a first-half penalty before redeeming himself with an assist on Cristian Romero’s 79th-minute goal. Four minutes later, Messi found the equalizer himself, setting the stage for Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time header that completed Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback. He was in tears after the match. “I don’t know if we can stop him over 90 minutes,” Swiss captain Granit Xhaka said of Messi on Friday, via interpretation. “It’s going to be very difficult. We have to be smart. We’ll have to be compact, close the gaps and not give him too many spaces. We will try, obviously, to play in possession when we have the ball, and he won’t be able to act as much. We’ll just try to play our game and not allow him to play the ball.” Switzerland has not reached a World Cup quarterfinal in 72 years. The last time was in 1954, when it hosted the tournament and lost 7-5 to Austria in what is still the highest-scoring match in World Cup history. Four players combined for all 12 goals, with two recording hat tricks and two others scoring braces. Saturday marks the first World Cup meeting between Switzerland and Argentina since 2014, when the nations met in the round of 16 in Brazil. Argentina won, 1-0, in extra time thanks to Ángel Di María’s 118th-minute winner, assisted by Messi. That was Xhaka’s first World Cup. “It was not the most pleasant moment,” Xhaka, 33, said. “I think we performed very well. We could have scored — we should have scored. Now, 12 years later, we are back and this time, we will try to win against Argentina. “We have a new team, a new mentality and a new generation of players. Football in Switzerland has improved a lot, and tomorrow we will try to really bother Argentina. We have become stronger — not only in this tournament, but in the last couple of years.” Switzerland enters this showdown unbeaten, winning four of its five matches at this World Cup and drawing the opener against Qatar. The squad is fresh off a tense round of 16 battle, defeating Colombia in a penalty shootout. Argentina, meanwhile, has been challenged in its last two knockout matches. The defending champions were pushed to the brink of a penalty shootout against debutant Cape Verde in the round of 32 before rallying from behind to defeat Egypt. Both games were considered among the best — and most thrilling — of the tournament so far. The Swiss are keenly aware of how La Albiceleste have been able to find a way in the final moments. Xhaka’s message to his squad is that they need to “bring our A game.” “We’ve tried to bring this mentality to Switzerland that it’s not over until the referee’s [final] whistle,” said Xhaka, who plays for Premier League club Sunderland and is familiar with many of the players on Argentina’s roster. “Just go all in, try to come back, try to bring the hunger to win the games, and I think Argentina can be a big example of what we can do as well in our future, and maybe tomorrow as well.” Beating Argentina would be a monumental achievement for Switzerland, which has never been to a World Cup semifinal. “I am not here to talk,” Xhaka said. “I want to take the next steps, and we’re very close to the end. I’m yearning for it, I am hungry, and now we just need to show how much we really want it on the pitch. “I am a person who always dreams and dreams can come true,” the captain added. “You need to work, you need to sweat, you need to give it 100 percent. And sometimes, you need to do something new. You really need to push your limits if you want to beat Argentina, and I’m convinced my team is ready.”