Thought of to be one of many favourites to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Argentina defeated Netherlands of their quarter-final fixture to e book a berth within the semi-finals. Lionel Messi as soon as proved to be his facet’s star participant with an help and a purpose, in what might be his last-ever World Cup.
The Argentina captain first assisted Nahuel Molina within the Thirty fifth-minute to offer Argentina a 1-0 lead after which prolonged it within the 73rd-minute by way of a penalty. In the meantime, Wout Weghorst staged a comeback for the Dutch, making it 1-2 within the 83rd-minute after which equalising in added time. With the match entered extra-time, each groups did not discover a winner, letting their destiny relaxation on a penalty shootout. Within the shootout, Emiliano Martinez got here out on high with some good saves as Argentina secured a 4-3 win in penalties.
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Final month, Messi had already said that this could be his remaining World Cup. So forward of Argentina’s semi-final fixture vs Croatia, supervisor Lionel Scaloni gave an enormous replace on Messi’s worldwide future. “We are going to hope he continues taking part in. Let’s see if he does. We are going to maintain having fun with him, that’s vital for us and for the world of soccer”, he mentioned.
Argentina face Croatia of their semi-final fixture, on the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Wednesday. The European facet needed to defeat Brazil in a shootout within the quarter-finals to achieve the last-four. That is additionally the third World Cup assembly between Argentina and Croatia, and first within the knockout levels. Argentina gained 1-0 in 1998, earlier than Croatia’s 3-0 victory within the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the meantime, the CONMEBOL facet might be in search of to achieve the World Cup remaining for the sixth time, a determine bettered solely by Germany (8). They’ve by no means been eradicated on the semi-final stage earlier than, lately beating the Dutch in 2014.