Martinez saves Argentina blushes

by Staff Reporter

Friday Dec 09, 2022. 23:05

Argentina became the latest nation to reach the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, recording a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Netherlands at the Lusail Stadium on Friday night.

The game kicked-off to a tense affair at the Lusail Stadium as both Argentina and Netherlands looked to feel each other out in the first five minutes of the game.

Argentina appeared to have edged Netherlands in the possession count early on, having most of the ball in their own half. In return, Louis van Gaal’s outfit took the patient approach in building out from the back of defence.

After 10 minutes played, Argentina created two goal scoring opportunities, particularly on the right hand side of the Netherlands defence. However, the Dutch nullified the South American’s attacks at the time.

The game remained somewhat on a knife-edge with around 20 minutes on the clock as neither side posed any trouble on their opposing defences. The Netherlands carved out one of thier first crack at goal in the 24th minute, as Depay and Bergwijn linked up going forward however, their opportunity went begging.

Argentina enjoyed a prolonged period of possession just before the half-hour mark as the moved the ball around with zip and precision. However, van Gaal’s army were left unmoved by the passage of play.

The South American’s pressure paid off in the 34th minute as Messi waved his magic in providing one of the assists of the tournament, as Molina slotted the ball away with relative ease. In driving the ball forward, Messi outwitted Ake, who was back tracking, and found Molina with a pin-point pass into the penalty area.

Argentina headed into the break with the slender 1-0 lead against the European giants and managed to assert themselves on their opposition for much of the first 45.

Just the first half began, so did the subsequent 45 as both teams fought for the right to have the ball. With five minutes on the clock after the restart, it was Argentina who looked the happier of the two outfits.

With an hour of football played at the Lusail Stadium, Argentina remained the more assured side in possession and nearly doubled their lead following a precise attacking move from the half-way line.

In a telling moment in the game, Argentina were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute of the game after Dumfries committed foul in the area. A confident Messi then stepped up and slotted the ball into the back of the net without fail.

The Netherlands pulled one back in the 82nd minute after going the direct route in launching the ball into the box, as Weghorst made an impact from the bench by directing the ball into the net with a glancing header.

As the game came to a close, a late challenge by Paredes on Ake resulted in the Netherlands bench to approach the Argentine midfielder in a furious manner. As a scuffle broke out, the referee then gave Paredes a yellow card for his actions.

In what was essentially the last kick of the game, Netherlands astonishingly levelled matters after making the most of a free-kick situation on the edge of the Argentine area. While Koopmeiners faked a shot, the attacker played the ball through on goal as Weghorst doubled his tally on the night.

Forced into extra-time, Argentina restarted by seeing more of the ball, while the Netherlands were content with occupying their own half. With little action being produced in the first-half of extra-time, it was on to the final 15 minutes of the match.

With time ticking on during the second-half of extra-time, Argentina ventured forward and created numerous goal scoring opportunities late on in the encounter. Nonetheless, neither side were able to be separated during the minutes added on as the game was summoned to penalties.

After a nerve wracking penalty shootout, in which the Netherlands missed two from the spot, it was the South Americans who advanced to the last four of the 2022 World Cup with a 4-3.

Netherlands: (0) (Weghorst 83’ 101’)

Argentina: (1) 2 (Molina 34’, Messi 72’)

Argentina: Martinez, Acuna (Taglifico 77’), Martinez (Di Maria 111’) , Otamendi, Romero (Pezzella 77’), Molina (Montiel 15’) , Fernandez, De Paul (Paredes 65’), Mac Allister,Messi, Alvarez (L.Martinez 81’)