Messi: 'Argentina won a difficult game'
"It was a very difficult and physically demanding match. We didn't have a lot of time off, we were all tired and didn't fully recover. Luckily we found the opener. The second goal helped us control the game, until Australia removed one. In the last minutes they pressed up and attacked more. Everything then became more complicated," Messi said after the match on the field. Ahmad bin Ali, added that had it not been for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's save in stoppage time, Argentina would have failed.
The play was certainly maintained by Australia, making Argentina difficult for most of the first half. Messi himself did not have much space to show off, before ecstatic with a thick shot in the 35th minute, the opening goal. After the second half started 12 minutes, Julian Alvarez increased the score to 2-0 after competing with his teammates for the ball with the Australian goalkeeper.
In a situation with nothing to lose, Australia played more recklessly from the second half of the second half, and saved a goal from a shot that hit Enzo Fernandez. The kangaroo team then continuously bombarded Argentina's goal. They could have leveled the gap if center back Lisandro Martinez failed to block Aziz Behich's solo in the 81st minute, or goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez failed to stop Garang Kuol's face-to-face shot in seventh minute of stoppage time.
"I am very happy for this victory and because we have taken one step further. We must unite and give more. Now, another difficulty is coming," Messi added. "The match against the Netherlands will be very difficult because this is the quarter-finals. As difficult as the confrontations against them used to be, so will this time."
In the quarterfinals at Lusail Stadium on December 9, Argentina reunited with the Netherlands. In 1998, the Netherlands eliminated Argentina in the quarterfinals with a score of 2-1. However, in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, Messi and his teammates overcame the "Orange whirlwind" by penalty shootout.
Regarding the record of playing all 1,000 matches in the victory over Australia, Messi does not really care. According to the Argentina captain, he has many other things to do, of which the important thing is to live and enjoy the moments with the team.
Argentina started the 2022 World Cup with a 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia. After the shock, Messi and his teammates managed to rise to the top of Group C by defeating Mexico 2-0 and Poland 2-0. If they overcome the Netherlands, they can meet Brazil, Korea, Croatia or Japan in the semi-finals.
