Argentina overcame Luis Van Gaal’s Netherlands on Friday night to book a spot into the World Cup final four but the Albiceleste needed a penalty shootout to prevail after squandering a two-goal lead.
Nahuel Molina and Leo Messi built a two-goal cushion for the Scaloneta, but substitute Wout Weghorst bagged a brace for the Dutch to equalize at the last breath, his second goal coming from a bizarre free-kick scheme.
The score didn’t change during the extra times and so it came down to penalties again. Emiliano Martinez saved the first two spot kicks from the Dutch, giving his side an advantage that would prove decisive. El Toro Lautaro Martinez scored the final penalty for the Albiceleste, who will now face Croatia in the Semi Finals.
Argentina vs. Netherlands is a World Cup classic matchup by now and tonight’s edition lived up to the expectations much more than the most recent occurrence, a World Cup 2014 Semi Final when the South Americans also prevailed on penalties after 120 minutes of boredom.
Tonight, at least, people did see some goals as the game went down to wire, despite a sleep-inducing first half where the only spark was Messi’s magic assist for Molina’s opener.
Both sides’ approach was cautious as it often happens when the world tournament enters its final stages. The Dutch had more ball possession but struggled to create any chances, ending the first half with no shots on target. Coach Louis Val Gaal’s defensive game plan, on the other hand, was expectedly to put two or even three men to mark Messi and keep him at bay.
It worked for 35 minutes only, as La Pulce conjured a spectacular filtering pass that pierced through the Oranje backline and was captured by Molina. The former Udinese men could thus score his first goal with the Seleccion, drawing Argentina ahead.
After the restart, Messi made the whole Lusail Stadium gasp as he drove a free kick a few inches too wide of the right post. However, the rendezvous with his fourth goal in this tournament was only delayed by a few minutes.
On 73 minutes, Denzel Dumfries came up with a clumsy tackle on Marcos Acuna in the box, which resulted in a crystal clear penalty from the Argentine. Messi made no mistake, bringing the score at 2-0.
The job seemed done for coach Lionel Scaloni an co., but Argentina made the same mistake as with Australia a few days ago. They believed it was over and let their guard down, for which they were promptly punished.
On 83 minutes, substitute Weghorst, whom Van Gaal had sent in just five minutes earlier, reopened the game with a clinical header from a Steven Berghuis cross.
The match became tense and nervous as referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz struggled to keep the situation in control despite distributing yellow cards like there was no tomorrow. Argentina’s Leandro Paredes did not do anything to calm things down as he violently kicked the ball towards the Dutch dugout after a nasty foul on Nathan Aké.
The result was a mini-brawl that Mateu Lahoz scrambled to sedate. Perhaps, without that, he would not have needed to concede 11 minutes of stoppage time, offering Netherlands plenty of time to equalize.
The Dutch took advantage of that at the very last gasp. From the edge of the box, Teun Koopmeiners took a free kick with a low-range shot that aimed at picking Weghorst in the middle of the box, rather than going for the goal. The Argentine were obviously called by surprise as the Wolfsburg man volleyed the ball past Emiliano Martinez, making it 2-2.
Netherlands should have had the advantage of the morale boost as they entered the extra times, but it was Argentina to continue to attack during the 30 additional minutes. Right before the final whistle, Enzo Fernandez hit the post with a phenomenal conclusion from outside the box, showing that, after all, the Albiceleste did a bit more than the Oranje to win it.
The shootout lottery certified that. Enzo Martinez saved the Dutch first two shots, while Andries Noppert was beaten by all the Argentine penalty takers.
A closing note on two legends: the Dutch one, the veteran coach Louis Van Gaal, bowed out of what was possibly his last World Cup campaign in style. The Argentine one, Leo Messi, can continue to dream adding the world tournament to his cabinet trophy.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 9, 2022 – FIFA World Cup Quarter Finals
NETHERLANDS – ARGENTINA 2-2 after extra times, 5-6 on penalties
SCORERS: 35′ Molina (A), 73′ Messi (A, pen.), 83′ Weghorst (N), 90’+11′ Weghorst (N)
PENALTY SEQUENCE: Van Dijk (N) saved, Messi (A) goal, Berghuis (N) saved, Paredes (A) goal, Koopmeiners (N) goal, Montiel (A) goal, Weghorst (N) goal, Fernandez (A) out, L. De Jong (N) goal, Lautaro Martinez (A) goal
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NETHERLANDS (3-4-1-2): Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Aké; Dumfries, De Roon (46′ Koopmeiners), F. De Jong, Blind (64′ L. De Jong); Gakpo (113′ Lang); Bergwijn (46′ Berghuis), Depay (78′ Weghorst) (Pasveer, Bijlow, De Ligt, De Vrij, Klaassen, Malacia, Janssen, Taylor, Simons, Frimpong) Coach: Van Gaal |
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ARGENTINA (3-5-2): E. Martinez; Romero (78′ Pezzella), Otamendi, Li. Martinez (112′ Di Maria); Molina (106′ Montiel), De Paul (66′ Paredes), Fernandez, Mac Allister, Acuña (78′ Tagliafico); Messi, J. Alvarez (81′ Lautaro Martinez) (Armani, Rulli, Foyth, Palacios, Correa, Almada, A. Gomez, G. Rodriguez, Dybala) Coach: Scaloni |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Timber, Depay, Berghuis, Bergwijn, Weghorst, Dumfries, Lang (O), Paredes, Messi, Otamendi, Montiel, Pezzella, Acuña, Romero, Li. Martinez (A) ; Added Time: 1st Half 5′, 2nd Half 11′, 1st Extra Half 0′, 2nd Extra Half 1′
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