By Janina Nuno Rios
June 22 (Reuters) - Twenty years after Lionel Messi first stepped onto a World Cup stage, Argentina are still being pulled along by the same irresistible force.
The question before the tournament was whether the champions could manage the workload of a captain, who turns 39 later this week. After two matches, and five Messi goals, the question for Argentina's rivals is becoming how do they stop him.
Messi has scored every Argentina goal at this World Cup, carrying them into the knockout
stage with a game to spare and setting the early tone of their campaign as a renewed statement of intent.
After a hat-trick in their campaign opener against Algeria, his double in Monday's 2-0 win over Austria made him the most prolific scorer in World Cup history, moving him clear of Brazilian great Marta's overall mark, and extended his scoring streak to six consecutive World Cup matches.
The holders were expected to remain dangerous, but perhaps not quite so dependent on — or so dramatically elevated by — their 38-year-old captain. Instead, Messi has supplied all their cutting edge, turning a team already difficult to beat into one with a match-winner setting the pace of the tournament.
For his teammates, even after all these years, the sense of wonder has not worn off.
"It's crazy," Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes told TyC Sports. "He keeps surprising us in every training session, in every match. It's a pleasure for us, and we try to enjoy him day by day, not only on the pitch but off it too, because he is spectacular as a person."
Striker Julian Alvarez said Messi's longevity only made his latest surge more remarkable.
"Twenty years being the best in the world, the best in history, and he still continues to show, at his age, that he has the talent and all his magic," Alvarez said.
Argentina are not simply paying tribute to a fading icon or trying to carry him through one last tournament. Four years after Messi led them to glory in Qatar, they are still being lifted by him and still looking to him for the moments that decide games.
Two decades on, Argentina are still built around Messi.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, additional reporting by Natalia SiniawskiEditing by Toby Davis)
