Messi takes Argentina to the quarterfinals of the World Cup
Before the most "soft" opponent in the 1/8 round, Argentina faced many difficulties at the beginning and the end of the match. The South American representative did not hit the goal once until Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 35th minute. And despite leading 2-0 from 57th minute, Argentina still lived in fear in the last seconds, when Australia almost pulled away. draw from the shot of 18-year-old talent Garang Kuol. The excellent save of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the 7th minute of compensation helped the South American representative to preserve the victory and win tickets to the quarter-finals against the Netherlands.
The 1000th game of Messi's career got off to a rough start, as he was constantly fouled and rarely connected with his teammates in attack. Australia's high pressure and solid rock left Argentina with not much space to coordinate. Just like the win against Denmark, the Kangaroo team accelerated when they noticed that the opponent was deadlocked. The ball began to be poured into the Argentine penalty area more, and the 1m98-tall center-back Harry Souttar sometimes made the Tango fans' hearts flutter.
In the tight match of the two sides, the difference comes from the level of superstars. Receiving the ball from the touch of central defender Otamendi, Messi skillfully dribbled the ball and then cut off the Australian defense with goalkeeper Matt Ryan. Messi scored after the first shot of the game, in a situation where the expected goal index (xG) was only 0.04 when there were 9 Australian players in the penalty area. The 789th goal in the career of the 35-year-old superstar, but only the first in the knockout rounds in the World Cup. This moment of genius helped Messi to 9 goals at World Cups for Argentina, surpassing Diego Maradona's achievement and only one goal behind Gabriel Batistuta.
Messi's opening goal made it easier for Argentina to kick in the second half, when the opponent was under pressure to find an equalizer. Mistakes were more frequent in the Australian defense, and striker in high form Julian Alvarez took advantage of a chance in the 57th minute. The Man City player scored his fourth in his last six games, quickly snatching the ball from the goalkeeper. Ryan and then turned and shot into the empty goal. The big credit in this goal belonged to Rodrigo De Paul, who approached the Australian defender before rushing in to make goalkeeper Ryan awkward in controlling the ball.
Psychologically comfortable, Messi showed superior technique when he passed the ball through 5 Australian players in the 64th minute. However, the owner of the seven Golden Balls could not finish the ball when the opponent's defense covered each other well. . Argentina's dominant position made coach Scaloni then confidently withdraw Alvarez and put Lautaro Martinez on the field. While this change did not work, the calculations of coach Graham Arnold on the other side of the front line were correct. Not long after entering the field, midfielder Craig Goodwin shot the ball and hit Enzo Fernandez, changing direction and going straight into the net of Argentina in the helplessness of goalkeeper Martinez.
The lucky goal made Australia excited again. Just a few minutes later, left-back Behich broke through 3 Argentinian players and finished close to the wall, but Lisandro Martinez was there in time to block. Graham Arnold's students put all their strength into attack in the last 10 minutes of the game, and that's when counter-attacking opportunities opened up for Argentina. Messi twice dribbled the ball to attract the opponent and clear the ground for Martinez, but the 25-year-old striker missed with inaccurate shots. Negligence in the finish made Martinez be compared by the media to his Inter teammate Romelu Lukaku, who also had an ungainly finish at this year's World Cup that knocked Belgium out of the group stage.
Argentina almost paid a heavy price with Martinez's extravagant balls. In the last minute of compensation, 18-year-old young talent Garang Kuol controlled the ball delicately in the penalty area, then turned to finish. But the youngest player to enter the knockout round of the World Cup could not become Australia's hero, when goalkeeper Martinez rejected Kuol's efforts. Immediately after Martinez's save, the match ended with a 2-1 victory for Argentina.
