Not a fan of Olympic soccer? Just watch Messi

August 21, 7:23 PMSoccer ExaminerJesse Baumgartner

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In case you haven’t been tuning in to the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, the final game on Friday at midnight ET will feature Argentina and Nigeria in a battle for the gold medal.

And if you appreciate incredible individual skill, the game will be featuring 21-year-old Lionel Messi, who has shone brightly in this tournament. Some people don’t like the Olympic tournament too much, and it’s certainly different given that each team can have only three players over 23 years old. But I’ve found it to be a decently high-level tournament thus far, and a nice backdrop to enjoy watching young talent get thrown into the fire and established stars shine.

It’s worth it for me to be able to see players like Messi on an international stage, but I fear that will soon stop thanks to the ruling that clubs can keep their best players out of it (thank heavens Messi ignored Barcelona).

For now I’ll just be sitting back to watch this Argentinean blur streak up and down the field, taking on defenders and providing high-level entertainment. The boy wonder was instrumental in two of Argentina’s goals in the 3-0 semifinal win against rival Brazil, both thanks to his elusive ability around the box. His speed and quickness seems to confound defenders, and what’s really impressive is how patient he can be at times. On both of his goal setups, he moved horizontally across the box, just waiting for the right moment when he could go a little deeper and draw defenders before passing it off to the open man. He’s also strong on the ball for how small he is.

But this Nigeria team is worth watching, too. They’ve been one of the most impressive sides this entire tournament and have shown an ability to win multiple types of games. That said, I think their best style is an offensive-minded, pressing attack. And thinking selfishly, I hope that’s what they use on Friday so we get to see an open field where Messi, Riquelme and the Nigerians have some room to work and put on a show.