Argentina defeated the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout to keep Lionel Messi’s World Cup dream alive on Friday after the Dutch had snatched a 2-2 draw from the jaws of defeat in an extraordinary quarter-final at Lusail Stadium. Emiliano Martinez saved the first two Dutch penalties to give Argentina to set up a date with Croatia in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
For Argentina, Nahuel Molina in 35′ and Lionel Messi in 73′ (P) scored the goals while for Netherlands, Wout Weghorst scored a brace in 83′ and 90+11′ to bring the Dutch team back into the match.
In penalty shootout, Messi, Parades, Montiel and Lautaro Martinez scored while Enzo Fernandez missed for Argentina. Emi Martines saved two penalties of Van Dijk and Steven Berghui while Koopmeiners and Luuk de Jong scored for Netherlands.
The match saw 16 yellow cards and one red card in one of the most controversial matches in the history of the tournament. Nine members of the Argentina camp, including captain Lionel Messi and manager Lionel Scaloni were both shown a yellow card in the contest.
Among the players who were booked, two of them were already on yellow cards, namely Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna. As a result, both of them will miss the semifinal against Croatia.
Messi now has four goals and two assists in the Qatar World Cup. His best goal tally at a World Cup has been five during the 2014 edition in Brazil where Argentina lost in the final.
Lionel Messi also won the Player of the Match award his ninth overall at World Cups, he thus went past Cristiano Ronaldo, who has seven trophies in the quadrennial showpiece
Lionel Messi drew level with Gabriel Batistuta at the top of Argentina’s all-time FIFA World Cup scorers list with a goal against the Netherlands. Batistuta had managed a tally of 10 goals in World Cups in 12 appearances over the 1994-2002 editions.
Netherlands Starting XI: Andries Noppert, Daley Blind, Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk (capt), Jurrien Timber, Denzel Dumfries, Marten de Roon, Steven Bergwijn, Frenkie de Jong, Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay.
Argentina Starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Marcos Acuna, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi
Picture Courtesy: FIFA Media
