LIONEL MESSI finished the Cape Verde thriller with a horror bruise swelling up on his forehead.
The evergreen 39-year-old finished up black-and-blue by the end of the magnificent 3-2 win, following a late knee to the nut.
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A lesser legend might have been subbed off for his own safety – not this fella Credit: Getty
The Argentina medical staff tended to their hero before extra time started Credit: Getty
In the final moments of normal time Messi’s face met with Kevin’s knee Credit: EPA
After scoring the opener – his seventh of the tournament so far – the Barcelona legend went on to inspire his side to an extra-time win.
And he did that after suffering a whack to the swede in the final moments of normal time, when a dribble turned into a tumble and his famous face met with a Cape Verde leg.
The Inter Miami master used an ice pack on the damaged part of his bonce and he finished the 120 minutes before celebrating the latest step toward retaining the Jules Rimet trophy.
And the injury did not stop him doing a brief most-match interview in which he admitted the nail-biting match was far from plain sailing.
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He said: “Honestly, we already knew this was going to be a very difficult match. It wasn’t a coincidence that this team didn’t lose to Spain or Uruguay.
“Scoring the first goal was the hardest part, and we thought it would help us control the game and play with more calm, but the exact opposite happened.
“We lost possession at times, dropped a little too deep, and couldn’t press them the way we wanted. They took advantage of their strengths and found the equalizer. We knew this was always going to be a complicated game.
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The tattooed Argentina hero celebrated the win as the welt worsened Credit: Getty
Messi nursed the knock but was still grinning with he win Credit: Reuters
“These are knockout matches, nobody gives you anything for free. Some people might underestimate certain teams because of their names, but we knew this was never going to be an easy match.
“That’s what makes this World Cup so special. Everything is incredibly close, and every single game is extremely difficult.
“As always, we gave everything we had, regardless of whether we played well or didn’t produce our best football.
“Now the most important thing is to recover, focus on the next match, and take the positives from today’s game.”
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IT’S A KNOCKOUT
The knockout stages of the World Cup are hotting up.
England believe football might finally be coming home after 60 years of hurt, with Harry Kane on fire.
But the likes of France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina are all serious contenders to go all the way.
Heavyweights Germany and the Netherlands have both been knocked out on penalties in the Round of 32.
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