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Star Lionel Messi led his country Argentina to win Australia 2-1 and progress to the quarter-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. In the quarter-finals, Argentina will face the Netherlands, who defeated America 3-1.
Argentina beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals Qatar World Cup 2022.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a ball inside the penalty area inhabited by the “flea” to the left of Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan.
In the 58th minute, Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan made a big mistake when he was slow to clear the ball, so striker Julian Alvarez snatched it from him and easily put it into the net.
Goodwin equalized for Australia in the 78th minute with a shot that hit Argentine defender Enzo Fernandez, to change direction and miss goalkeeper Martinez.
For more – The Argentina-Australia match is back live
Argentina will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, who previously beat the United States 3-1.
“Alpine Celeste” faced defensive toughness in the first half hour of the match, and Messi’s colleagues could not get close to the goal. Before Messi took advantage of a ball exchange near the penalty area, he received the ball and set it in the net.
Messi’s thousandth game
Thus, Lionel Messi scored in the 1,000th match of his career as he tried to win the only title that eluded him.
Messi, 35, is Argentina’s all-time top scorer, scoring 94 goals and appearing in his 169th international match on Saturday.
Messi struck goalkeeper Ryan in the 35th minute, which is the first goal he has scored in the last 16 of the World Cup and his third in the Qatar finals so far, bringing his total tally in the World Cup to nine goals, a goal more than the end Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
In all, Messi scored 789 career goals. Messi is participating in the World Cup for the fifth time and has said it will be his last tournament, making it important for him to win the title if he is to match Maradona’s legacy.
Argentina have only lost once in a 40-game streak (W28 versus D11), and that was to Saudi Arabia 1-2 at the start of their World Cup group stage matches.
“We fought until the last second, but the most important thing is that we did it,” said Messi. “It was a difficult match and we didn’t have time to recover.”
He commented on the cheering atmosphere for his team in the stands: “It’s a celebration to see all this crowd. When we say we’re not playing alone, but with all this madness next to us, the atmosphere is great and we have to stick together, A difficult match awaits us.”
The end of a difficult game
And Argentina doubled the score after the pressure on the ball carrier, which caused a confusion of goalkeeper Ryan, to be grabbed by Julian Alvares and shot into an empty net (57), in his second goal in the World Cup.
Messi dodged from midfield more than an Australian to pass to Alvares, in order for the latter to give him back. The French star, Paris Saint-Germain, was unable to shoot comfortably (64).
Scaloni managed the forward Alvares and the defender Marcos Acuña, and introduced Lautaro Martinez and Nicholas Tagliafico (71′).
Australia narrowed the score with friendly fire after substitute Goodwin hit a ball from around 23 yards which hit midfielder Fernandez and deceived the goalkeeper.
Aziz Behich broke into the Argentine penalty area, dribbled past Nicholas Otamendi and hit a dangerous ball, which was blocked by Lisandro Martinis (82).
At the end of the match, the Argentines excelled in wasting chances, as Lautaro missed a ball which hit over the goal after a pass from Messi inside the area (89), to come back and waste a similar opportunity which the goalkeeper blocked (90 + 2), while Messi preferred to shoot alone after the minute so that the ball went over the crossbar.
And Emiliano Martinez saved one last ball from substitute Garang Cole after easily dodging Tagliafico (90+7), so the referee blew the final whistle, announcing that Argentina had qualified.
FRANCE 24/AFP/Reuters
