Messi keeping the dream alive

VICTORY IN HONOUR OF MARADONA

- JEREMY CROSS

HE STOOD there looking up to the heavens as if to demand the great man's approval.

And it's safe to assume the late Diego Maradona (below) granted it, having seen Lionel Messi produce another moment of genius to add to his living legend.

This had threatened to be Messi's last dance and for more than an hour he appeared to be exiting stage left as the curtain came down on his World Cup dream. But Messi was going nowhere.

The true greats know how to produce the aces from the pack when all looks lost - and Messi is certainly one of these.

And in the 64th minute he slapped it on the table, picking up a ball on the edge of the box before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner to send an entire nation into delirium.

The stakes were high inside this magnificent Lusail Stadium - and the omens were startling.