5 times Lionel Messi single-handedly saved Argentina

#1 Ecuador vs Argentina, CONMEBOL 2017 (3-1)

Messi celebrating with his teammates after scoring against Ecuador

When Argentina's fate was hanging by a thread in the recent World Cup qualifiers, the menace Messi proved that in the footballing labyrinth world, he is the Minotaur. After conceding a goal in the first minute of the high-pressure game, Messi kept his calm like a bomb disposal expert on the run.

At the altitude of 3000 feet where it was difficult to breathe, Messi sunk his flaming spear in the hearts of Ecuador fans and answered the opponents with a spectacular hat-trick. In the game of do or die situation, the little artistic genius conquered the field single-handedly and took his team to World Cup 2018 leaving teams like Chile and Peru behind.

The lethal goalscorer was all over the field to attack and defend the ball. Setting up a beautiful play with Di Maria to score his first goal wasn't enough to qualify. So the majestic genius turned more dangerous and scored two more astonishing goals with his left foot and found the right corner of the net beating the goalkeeper. Messi's brilliance secured the victory but they will likely be among the title contenders again even though they struggled to qualify.