England pride themselves on their physicality, so shouldn't it have suited them to face a 39-year-old who spends most of his time walking? Not this 39-year-old. BBC Sport football…

Lionel Messi found space as England struggled to cope with the veteran's sharp-witted play England pride themselves on their physicality, so shouldn't it have suited them to face a 39-year-old who spends most of his time walking? Lionel Messi is less athletic compared to his younger self, but his footballing intelligence makes up for the physical drop-off. As England conceded control of the World Cup semi-final because of their own fatigue and Thomas Tuchel's in-game changes, veteran Messi strolled authoritatively and effectively served as Argentina's on-field coach. So how did Messi find and exploit England's weaknesses to deliver victory for Argentina in Atlanta? Wingers Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers were tasked with pressing the two Argentina central defenders – angling their body in a way that made finding the full-backs harder for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and his centre-backs, Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez. For Argentina, it felt like the simpler passes were on through the middle of the pitch, but in playing these they fell into England's trap early on. Rogers and Gordon pressed to prevent Martinez finding his full-backs. Harry Kane and the midfielders took a more man-to-man approach centrally. Martinez went long from this situation.