5 best individual performances this weekend (17th-18th March)

#3 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan): 4 goals vs Sampdoria

The FIFA 2018 World Cup is fast approaching and it seemed to many that Mauro Icardi was not showing up enough to make the cut for the Argentina World Cup team which already has an incredibly talented frontline that boasts the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala (the list goes on and on and on)...

The young Inter Milan captain decided to call it a day on his goal drought and picked up his scoring boots on his way to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to give Sampdoria a thrashing they are not likely to forget for a while.

After Perisic put Inter Milan ahead with a looping header in the 26th minute, it was a one-man show. Icardi scored from the spot in the 30th minute before backheeling a stray ball past 2 Sampdoria defenders and the goalkeeper for his second in the very next minute.

He tapped in from a couple of yards after Emiliano Viviano parried a shot into his path in the 44th minute. You'd expect a striker to be done after laying his claim on the match ball but this week was such a delightful diversion from the norm.

Icardi scored his best goal of the night as he hit a first-time volley into the ground for it to bounce over Viviano and find shelter in the far post.

Mauro Icardi is definitely making a case for himself this season and it will be disappointing to see him miss out on the Argentina World Cup squad.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Amit Mishra