World Cup classic! Winners and losers as Argentina outlast Netherlands to reach semi-finals thanks to Messi and Martinez
Lionel Scaloni's side blew a 2-0 lead in the dying stages of a heated encounter but held their nerve in the shootout to reach the last four.
What. A. Game. As beautiful as it was ugly. Full of goals and gamesmanship. And, at the end of an utterly engrossing 2-2 draw, Argentina prevailed on penalties, defeating Netherlands 4-3 in the shootout to progress to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
The Dutch were disgusted when Lautaro Martinez converted the decisive spot-kick, with Denzel Dumfries particularly incensed. He spent a good two minutes in a serious discussion with the referee, Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, and received a red card for his troubles. We'll be hearing more about that in the coming days, no doubt.
For now, though, Argentina can bask in the glory of victory in a World Cup contest for the ages. Lionel Scaloni's side deservedly led 2-0 thanks to the genius and composure of Lionel Messi, who created Nahuel Molina's opener with the greatest no-look pass this tournament has seen since Andrea Pirlo in 2006, and then slotted home a penalty to seemingly seal his side's progression to the last four.
The Dutch weren't done, though. Louis van Gaal, the tactical genius in his final tournament as Netherlands boss, decided to go route one in the closing stages, after sending on Luuk de Jong and Wout Weghorst.
Sticking two big men up top paid off, with the latter forcing extra-time with two late goals, the second of which arrived after a fantastic free-kick routine.
The momentum was all with the Netherlands at that point but 99 per cent of the crowd remained fully behind Argentina, and the fans played their part in a shootout success that they were still celebrating long after Lautaro had decided a crazy game in Lusail in their favour.
Below, GOAL runs through all of the winners and losers from one of the greatest World Cup matches of all time…
GettyWinner: The World Cup's Assist King
How? How did he see that pass? The easy answer is: it’s Lionel Messi; of course he spotted that run. It’s what he does.
We’re talking about a genius that now has more World Cup knockout stage assists (five) than anyone since records began 1966, with his wonderfully-disguised pass for Molina taking him one clear of Pele. Messi has also moved ahead of Diego Maradona in terms of goal involvements (17), while his second-half penalty saw become Argentina's joint-top scorer (10) alongside Gabriel Batistuta.
These are not normal numbers, and it was interesting to hear Keanu Baccus admit after Australia's meeting with Argentina that facing Messi was a truly awesome experience, in that the diminutive No.10 doesn’t seem real.
"He looks fake on the field,” he said. “He looks a bit like a wax statue, to be honest. It's surreal how good he actually is and how he watches the game, sees the game and takes it on himself.
"It’s very special because not many people can do that. Receive the ball from anywhere on the field and back yourself, be confident to go at people and take the game on."
Against the Netherlands, Messi provided yet another stunning demonstration of that remarkable, super-human ability to know exactly where everyone is on the field at any given time.
Indeed, what was extraordinary about his assist for Molina's goal was that at no point did he look up to check where his team-mate was, because he already knew where he was.
This is why, as Jorge Valdano pointed out, Argentina's players go out of their way to get him the ball, even when he's surrounded by opponents. Because Messi sees things that nobody else can.
AdvertisementGettyWinner: Nahuel Molina
As Nahuel Molina told GOAL last year, Messi was his childhood idol.
"Because I wasn't a right-back when I was younger," he explained. "I played further forward, out wide, so I loved Messi, and not because I was similar to him or anything, just because he was such a great player, on a whole other level to everyone else!"
So, when Molina was called up to the Argentina squad for the first time, it was "like a dream come true".
What, then, must it have felt like for the 24-year-old to have taken a pass from his idol to open the scoring in a World Cup quarter-final against Netherlands?
It's safe to presume that Nahuel Molina will never, ever forget his first international goal.
GettyLosers: German Pezzella
German Pezzella was the most relieved man in this stadium when Lautaro's penalty went in. Had Argentina been eliminated here, the Betis defender never would have forgiven himself.
Argentina had the game won in normal time. They just needed to deal with one final Netherlands attack and the ball had already been half-cleared. Weghorst went for it but he had his back to goal. There was little danger. If anything, the Dutch forward was about to give away for leaning into Leandro Paredes, who was already on his way down.
However, Pezzella stupidly barged into the back of Weghorst, gifting Netherlands a free-kick on the edge of the area…
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GettyWinner: Dutch ingenuity
There was nothing pretty or sophisticated about the way in which the Dutch got themselves back into this game. This wasn't the Netherlands of the 1970s, it was Wimbledon of the 1980s. Van Gaal has never been one for Total Football, of course, but route one?… And yet it worked.
Van Gaal threw on the big men and instructed his players to get the ball into the box. Wieghorst's first goal came from a cross from the right flank and he also won the free from which Netherlands levelled the game by just making a nuisance of himself under a high ball on the edge of the area.
Credit where it's due, though: the equaliser was a stroke of genius, reminiscent of Sweden in 1994 and Argentina in 1998. With a move straight off the training ground, Steven Berghuis pretended to shoot before Teun Koopmeiners cleverly rolled the ball low into the area for Weghorst to take care of the rest. It was as ingenious as it was ballsy. Very Van Gaal, essentially.