Messi marches on: Argentina 2-1 Australia
Argentina are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup 2022 where they will meet Holland at the Lusail Stadium on Friday 9th December and that, my friends, is a game you can’t afford to miss.
As the first set of Round of 16 matches played out, on Saturday, Holland and Argentina were expected to progress but the Albiceleste made a slow start against the Socceroos, with only one shot in the first quarter of the game and Australia won the first corner, on 22 minutes. Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy was doing an amazing job of keeping Messi quiet and Argentina were oddly subdued.
Until…
cometh the hour cometh the man and, after 35 minutes of pretty much nothing, Argentina did some long overdue pressing, and when the ball reached Messi some 15 yards out he fired it low and into the net. It was, unbelievably, Messi’s first goal at the knockout stage of a World Cup finals and an incredible sight in his 1000th competitive game.
And that was the big moment of the game. Argentina went in to half time 1-0 up and came out for the second half looking more like themselves, pressing harder and moving the ball quicker; and the pressure soon told as Australia made the mistake which took the game away. Keeper Mat Ryan, normally so reliable, had a brain freeze and tried to dribble around the advancing Rodrigo de Paul only to gift the ball to Julian Alvarez who passed it into the empty net.
Messi began to turn on the style, going on a mazy run and beating three defenders but he couldn’t finish off with a telling shot. But football is a strange game at times, and when Craig Goodwin fired a wild effort which was flying well wide it took a wicked deflection off Enzo Fernandez and sailed into the net to give Argentina a little more work to do. Lisandro Martinez made a brilliant tackle to deny Aziz Behich after the Aussie made a brilliant run into the penalty area and, at the other end of the pitch Lautaro Martinez blazed over with the goal gaping, and 2-1 it remained.
Football is the fifth most popular sport in Australia but their World Cup 2022 results have been hugely impressive, with two wins at the group stage, and the Socceroos can go home with their heads held high.
Meanwhile, the World Cup 2022 betting odds have nudged Argentina alongside France as second favourites to win the title, and millions of neutrals around the world will be hoping this could be Messi’s time.
Dutch Masters: Holland 3-1 USA
The Stars and Stripes made a bright start in their clash with Holland but they found it difficult to convert their possession into meaningful chances, whereas the Dutch scored in their first real attack of the game. It was a ‘total football’ goal that the great Holland team of the seventies would have been proud of. The Oranje made ten or more crisp passes before Denzel Dumfries burst down the right flank and then pulled back an inch perfect ball for Memphis Depay to pass into the net.
Here at SBOTOP we said ‘you can’t count USA out’ against the Dutch, but highlighted the Stars and Stripes’ concern around scoring goals and that was the story of the first half, but Holland keeper Andries Noppert had to make a very smart save to deny Timothy Weah just before the break. The Oranje, in contrast, know where the net is and in the last play of the opening half they doubled their lead with a carbon copy of their first goal. Dumfries burst down the right, pulled back a perfect ball and this time Daley Blind, winning his 98th cap for his country, slotted the ball low into the net.
USA had a mountain to climb and they almost made it to base camp just after the break when Weston McKennie’s header was turned towards goal by Gio Reyna, but Cody Gakpo cleared off the line, and at the other end of the pitch Matt Turner had to be alert to avert a Walker Zimmerman own goal. The USA keeper made a brilliant double save to give the Stars and Stripes a glimmer of hope, and the glimmer became a flicker when Haji Wright halved the deficit with a bizarre goal, flicking the ball with the back of his foot, up an over Noppert as it squeezed in at the far post. But the USA hopes were dashed again when man-of-the- match Dumfries finished another fine move with a superb volley to fire the Oranje into the last eight.
The victory was the 19th for Holland under Louis Van Gaal and they are now unbeaten in their last 20 World Cup games against non-European opponents, while the USA have won only one of their last 11 games outside their own borders. It’s perhaps as well for the Stars and Stripes that they are hosting the competition in 2026!
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