--- description: Today's World Cup semifinal, Argentina against the Netherlands, promises to be a nail-biter. But the spotlight will be on Lionel Messi title: Messi in Motion: All Eyes on Argentina's Star Soccer Striker image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a78f956bd6af9d0/69869aba810bbbb122c92817/lionel-messi-argentina-world-cup-09.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [World Cup](/tag/world-cup/) ## World Cup Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Messi in Motion: All Eyes on Argentina's Star Striker by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 9, 2014 1:12 PM CUT  Argentina's Lionel Messi vies for the ball during a quarter-final football match between Argentina and Belgium at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 5, 2014. Argentina's Lionel Messi vies for the ball during a quarter-final football match between Argentina and Belgium at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 5, 2014.Adrian Dennis—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 9, 2014 1:12 PM CUT  Lionel Messi during the 2014 World Cup match between Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina, on June 15th, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gustavo Basso—NurPhoto/Corbis  Argentina's Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Switzerland's Admir Mehmedi and Johan Djourou during their 2014 World Cup round of 16 game at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 1, 2014. Kai Pfaffenbach—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Iran's Javad Nekounam during their 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on June 21, 2014. Kai Pfaffenbach—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi fights for the ball during their 2014 World Cup quarter-finals at the Brasilia national stadium in Brasilia on July 5, 2014. Damir Sagolj—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Nigel de Jong of the Netherlands during their 2014 World Cup semi-finals at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 9, 2014. Ricardo Moares—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi escapes from Switzerland's Valon Behrami (L) and Gelson Fernandes (R) during the FIFA World Cup 2014 round of 16 match between Argentina and Switzerland at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 1, 2014. BALLESTEROS—EPA  Argentina's Lionel Messi runs with the ball during the Group F football match between Nigeria and Argentina at the Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre on June 25, 2014, Adrian Dennis—AFP/Getty Images  Lionel Messi (10) carries the ball through the midfiel during the Round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup, between Argentina and Switzerland, on July 1st, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Gustavo Basso—NurPhoto/Corbis  Argentina's Lionel Messi chases the ball with Belgium's Axel Witsel during their 2014 World Cup quarter-finals at the Brasilia national stadium in Brasilia on July 5, 2014. David Gray—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi vies for the ball during a quarter-final football match between Argentina and Belgium at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 5, 2014. Adrian Dennis—AFP/Getty Images  Argentina's Lionel Messi scores a goal past Iran's Reza Ghoochannejhad during their 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on June 21, 2014. Leonhard Foeger—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after teammate Angel Di Maria scored a goal during extra time in their 2014 World Cup round of 16 game against Switzerland at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 1, 2014. Paulo Whitaker—Reuters  Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the group F World Cup soccer match against Argentina at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on June 25, 2014. Jon Super—AP  Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the group F World Cup soccer match between Argentina and Bosnia at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 15, 2014. Victor R. Caivano—AP ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2963697/messi-argentina-soccer-football/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2963697/messi-argentina-soccer-football/"},"headline":"Messi in Motion: All Eyes on Argentina's Star Striker","datePublished":"2014-07-09T13:12:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:09.168Z","description":"The World Cup semifinal match, which pits Argentina against the Netherlands, promises to be a nail-biter. But as the two teams battle it out, there's one player who's bound to steal the show. Lionel Messi, widely considered the best player in the world, is Argentina's trump card. Captain of his team, and with a string of record-breaking wins, the formidable striker appears unstoppable. 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