Argentina beat Netherlands on penalties in World Cup quarter-final epic

Argentina are into the World Cup semi-finals to face Croatia, beating Netherlands on penalties after a dramatic 2-2 draw in Qatar.

The remarkable game saw the Dutch score twice at the death to muster up extra-time, but it was for nothing in the end as the South American side went through on spot-kicks, with Emiliano Martinez starring in goal for Argentina.

There were not many chances for a good 70 minutes of this match, but Argentina had taken two of theirs by that stage and looked comfortable as the Dutch offered little in attack.

The opening goal was from an unlikely source as Nahuel Molina latched onto a sublime Lionel Messi through ball to poke home his first international goal.

When Messi slotted home a penalty on 73 minutes it really looked like the game was over as Netherlands had barely troubled Emiliano Martinez in the Argentina goal, but they did make things very interesting in the dying moments.

Substitute Wout Weghorst nodded in a goal with seven minutes of normal time to go as Louis van Gaal sent on the big men and went route one to unsettle Argentina.

It worked, but it was a touch of invention that sent the game into extra-time as a free-kick just outside the Argentina box was not used for a shot at goal, but instead rolled into the feet of Weghorst in the box, who took a touch, spun and fired past Emi Martinez to equalise right at the death.

Extra-time saw Argentina recover and nearly win it, with Enzo Fernandez hitting the post, but the match reached penalties and they didn’t let it affect them, with Martinez emerging as the hero.

The Aston Villa goalkeeper saved the very first penalty, turning Virgil van Dijk’s effort round the post, then Messi immediately gave Argentina the advantage and Martinez was the star again, saving from Steven Berghuis. Lautaro Martinez eventually scoring the winning penalty after Fernandez missed.

The first half was shaping up to be an almost entirely forgettable affair, with neither side producing much of note at all, until Messi got to work.

He picked the ball up closer to the halfway line than the goal, pushed forwards and the Dutch defence will regret not putting in a proper challenge as he picked out the run of Molina with just the slightest of glances, playing the inch-perfect pass without looking in his teammate’s direction.

Molina was making an excellent burst into the box from right wing-back, he controlled the pass well and poked past Andries Noppert calmly to score his first international goal.

Argentina were not creating many chances either, although Messi again got the crowd on his feet as he had a cracking effort from a free-kick drop narrowly over the crossbar just after the hour.

They didn’t even have to create their own chance to score their second, with Denzel Dumfries rather clumsily giving away a penalty on 71 minutes.

Marcos Acuna burst down the left, just inside the penalty box, chopped back onto his right foot and Dumfries swept away his standing leg.

Up stepped Messi to face the giant Noppert, but the Dutch goalkeeper remained in the centre of his goal as the PSG forward whipped the ball to the stoppers left and into the corner.

Netherlands were desperate by this point and started going a lot more direct, with the introduction of target man Wout Weghorst paying off as he got on the scoresheet, nodding in a great cross from the right flank on 83 minutes.

There was just a touch of spice throughout the game and things got tense late on, with Leandro Paredes hoofing the ball at the Dutch bench after a tackle near them, causing the substitutes to rush the pitch. The referee calmed things down and Paredes was booked.

There was 10 minutes of stoppage time and Argentina were being bombarded with long balls by this stage, it was direct stuff, but a very clever bit of play sent the game to extra time.

Netherlands won a free-kick just outside the Argentinian box, with Steven Berghuis shaping up to shoot but he rolled the ball into Weghorst’s feet in the middle of the penalty area, who took a touch, turned and coolly finished past Martinez with almost the last kick of normal time.

The man on loan at Besiktas from Burnley had scored twice from two shots.

WELL THEN 😳

Wout Weghorst’s second goal sends it to extra-time! 😱#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/2pVsJhuKQf

Things were really heated by this stage and before extra time started seemingly every sub and coach was on the field arguing with someone or other as the referee largely lost control of proceedings.

After all that chaos, extra time started very tamely as the Dutch refrained from their aerial bombardment and both sides seemed to try and get their shapes back.

Extra time was a little muted, as the yellow cards continued to rack up well into double figures, but Lautaro Martinez did have a great chance as the minutes ticked down, firing a shot in from an Angel di Maria cutback, which was deflected wide by Virgil van Dijk.

Argentina were finishing the match stronger, with Nicolas Otamendi seeing an effort deflected just over, Lautaro Martinez had a decent shot saved and Di Maria even saw a corner kick directly saved by Noppert.

They came even closer with the final kick of extra time as Enzo Fernandez produced a fierce shot from range which hit the post and went out.

Martinez produced two immense saves in the shootout, with Lautaro Martinez scoring the winning penalty, after Fernandez made it nervy by firing wide.

Source: Read Full Article