Argentina 2-2 Netherlands; Emi Martinez makes tremendous saves to help Argentina defeat Netherlands 4-3 on penalties
After a nail-biting match of the second quarterfinal held in the Lusail Stadium, Argentina emerged victorious again from the ashes earlier. The game proceeded into an extra 30 minutes after a draw of 2-2.
The game was equally balanced between Netherlands and Argentina for most of the match, like statistical frontiers other than the scoresheet. Even after balancing the Argentines off by keeping the ball possession slightly more than them, the scoresheet spoke a different tale.
Flying start for Argentina and Messi
The Argentines had bagged an early lead with a fantastic goal from Nahuel Molina in the 35th minute of the match in the first half itself, which was possible because of the brilliant assist the magical Lionel Messi provided. The celebrations of the first goal went into the second half for quite a while.
The Netherlands’ defense was able to hold off an all-out attack from the great Lionel Messi-led Argentine attack for the rest of the match. Still, a slight mistake from their defense proved to be a blunder because the second celebration for the Argentine camp came right after.
Argentina was awarded a penalty, and rightfully it was converted into a fantastically netted goal by none other than their frontman Lionel Messi in the 73rd minute of the match. This had put Argentina off a two-goal lead from the Dutch and sent their fans and players into seventh heaven.
Weghorst brings netherlands back in the game
This could be why the Argentine defense had grown complacent and got overconfident with their lead, and the Dutch exploited it with all their might. They broke into the Argentine defense with all they had, and it was Wout Weghorst who proved to be the game-changer for the Dutch.
Weghorst scored the opening goal for the Netherlands in the 83rd minute of the match, still keeping their hope alive, and then it was the cunningly taken free-kick, which found Weghorst again in the added injury time of 90+11 minutes of the match, equalizing the scoresheet with a 2-2.
Emi Martinez the hero between the sticks for Argentina
After the match forcefully extended into the extra 30 minutes and then later went into the penalties to break the deadlock, it was ultimately Argentina that persisted and survived after the full penalty shootout, which resulted in a 4-3 tiebreaking victory over the Netherlands who put on a spectacular fight against Messi’s magic.
After the match, which saw 18 yellow cards and one red card at the end, Argentina’s victory has kept Messi’s dream alive and has stormed them into the semi-finals, where they are all set to face Croatia, who earlier beat Brazil in penalties.
