"I wanted to take it fast to surprise him" - Lionel Messi reveals secret behind his penalty against Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic

Lionel Messi revealed that he studied Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's penalty strategy.

The 35-year-old PSG star faced the shot stopper during Argentina semi final clash with Croatia on Tuesday.

Prior to Tuesday's final four match, Lionel Messi said that he and teammates Emiliano Martinez and Geronimo Rulli performed some research on Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's strategies for saving penalties.

Prior to the semi-final between his nation and Serbia, the Argentine national hero admitted researching his opponent. Livakovic preferred to wait for penalty takers to initiate action, and Messi was determined not to give him the advantage.

Instead of stammering and waiting for the goalkeeper to flinch first, as has been a rising tendency in modern football, the 35-year-old hammered his penalty kick into the top right corner after a brief and fast run up.

Messi had already scored twice, once in a shootout, from 12 yards against Saudi Arabia and Holland, but he missed against Poland after Wojciech Szczesny made the correct guess.

In addition, Livakovic had turned aside four penalties in shootouts during quarterfinal matches against Brazil and Japan, making him a tough opponent for the Argentinian superstar.

Martinez, who is also a bit of an expert in shootouts between the posts, and Rulli's counsel definitely paid off as Messi gave his team an early 1-0 lead in the match.

'I studied the Croatian goalkeeper's technique with Geronimo Rulli and with Dibu (Emiliano Martinez),' the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner told Argentinian outlet TyC Sports.

'We talked about how he waited a lot. The best thing to do was to surprise and hit it at once, instead of waiting and holding him.

The PSG player, who has never won the golden boot, pulled even with Kylian Mbappe at the top of the World Cup scoring rankings with five goals.

In classic Messi flair, he also contributed his third assist of the competition after a balletic move turned Chelsea target Josko Gvardiol inside out and then laid the ball off for Julian Alvarez to tap in and make it 3-0 for the game.

Messi added: 'When they hold him for a long time, it's difficult. I was determined to kick like that.'

But with one more World Cup game left, the 35-year-old could still be called upon for the Sunday showpiece final's penalty shootout against France. It is yet to be seen, however, whether he does the same amount of research on Hugo Lloris' technique.

Following the 3-0 win over Croatia, Argentina will now face France in the final this weekend.

Recall that the Les Blues recorded 2-0 win over Morocco in their semi final