- Argentina beat Australia 2-1
- Julian Alvarez scored his fourth goal in six international matches
- Messi is playing his last World Cup and chasing the only trophy he is missing
Argentina have set up a quarter final date against the Netherlands in the quarter finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after they earned victory in their round of 16 matches played on Saturday evening in Doha, Qatar.
Lionell Messi’s Argentina earned a clutch 2-1 win over Australia while the Netherlands were 3-1 winners over the United States.
Mess, playing in his last World Cup, scored the opening goal for La Abiceleste before Julian Alvarez scored the second. But most props would go to goalkeeper Emi Martinez who made a brilliant block one on one to deny substitute Garang Kuol in the dying minutes of the match.
Enzo Fernandez had turned the ball into his own net with quarter of an hour to play to give Australia some hope of a comeback, and Martinez made the decisive save in the last minute of added time to deny the South-Sudanese born Kuol.
Youngest player at the World Cup
Kuol,18, had made history becoming the youngest player to feature at a World Cup since Pele in 1958.
The Argentines had been off to a good start in the game dominating play from the word go. They broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, and who else to do it than Leo Messi.
The Argentine superstar struck a low shot into the net after being teed up by McAllister. The Argentines had recycled the ball into the net after a Messi corner had been half-cleared by the Aussie backline.
They took the 1-0 lead into the break.
Australia fans cheering on their team. PHOTO/FIFA
In the second half, they continued from where they had stopped. Man City’s Alvarez then made it 2-0 in the 57th minute, thanks to a mistake from the Australian goalkeeper. The shot stopper miscontrolled a backpass and Alvarez pounced, winning the ball and tapping it home.
Australia pile pressure to get goal
With 20 minutes to play, Australia began to pile the pressure as they sought a way back to at least force the game to extra time. They got their goal with 13 minutes to play, Craig Goodwin’s volleyed shot from distance deflected by Enzo and wrongfooting the keeper.
With a goal to bridge the gap, Australia gave in a fight and they forced Argentina to play on the backfoot. At the death, substitute Garang picked the ball at the backpost, fired a shot at goal, but Martinez spread his body on the ground to block the shot.
It was heartbreak for Australia, who had given absolutely everything on the line to battle for a historic place in the quarters.
It was a massive win for Messi especially, who has long made it clear that he would want to win the single trophy he is missing in his cabinet. The star had two years ago said he was retiring from the Argentine national team but was convinced to return.
He came back and helped them clinch the Copa America, his first trophy with the team, and now, he wishes for the big one, the World Cup, to complete his career.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login