The moment the final whistle was blown on a chaotic afternoon in Atlanta, the emotion surged through Lionel Messi. The moment he uncovered his face, you could see the tears were starting to flow.Tears of joy? It looked more like cathartic relief. Nineteen minutes earlier, his time on the World Cup stage seemed to be drawing to an unexpectedly early close. He had missed a penalty and Argentina were 2-0 down to Egypt in the round of 16, the defence of their world title seemingly in tatters. For a time in the second half, he looked dazed, as if unable to comprehend what was happening to him and his team.And then something clicked. It was as if a fire had been lit inside him. And almost in the blink of an eye, Argentina were 3-2 up and Egypt, so close to making history by reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, were out, victims of a classic remontada.Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic appMessi made the first goal on 79 minutes with a cross that was headed home by Cristian Romero and scored the second four minutes later with a magnificent first-time shot that flew in off the bar. And even if he played no part in the winner, a stunning counter-attack rounded off by Enzo Fernandez, it felt like the Messi effect was what had turned a hitherto shambolic Argentina performance around.In the post-match mixed zone, Messi told reporters that he felt a sense of release, having felt “a lot of anger” at his second penalty miss of the tournament. “I felt like I had let the team down at an important moment,” the 39-year-old said. “But fortunately, fate had something special for me at the end, and I managed to score the equaliser.”Messi turned anger into fire (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)Even now, after all these years, there are underrated aspects to Messi’s game.One of them — something his detractors in Argentina used to say he lacked in comparison to the great Diego Maradona — is his ability to find another level, to draw on what is deep inside him, to summon something to bend his games to his will, rather than just his genius as a footballer.Watching in the studio for U.S. broadcaster Fox, Thierry Henry said it reminded him of times playing alongside him at Barcelona. “You do not (want to) wake up the beast,” Henry said. “You look at his eyes, and he switches. When he goes into that mood, it’s very difficult to stop him. This guy … when his team needs him, he raises his game. He starts to take the ball and dribble past almost everybody to try to change the game.”That was how it felt inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Egypt had coped with everything that had come their way. They were defending resolutely and counter-attacking incisively, backed up by a goalkeeper in Mostafa Shobeir whose early penalty save from Messi had been just one of several impressive interventions. Argentina’s players and fans were looking to Messi for inspiration. But nothing was happening … until that force took hold of him.