QATAR 2022
Messi shines again as Argentina celebrates a hard-fought qualification into the quarters
Lionel Messi during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Round of 16 match between Argentina and Australia (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
DOHA, December 4, 2022 - In his 1,000 official game, Lionel Messi scored his first-ever goal in a knockout World Cup match as Argentina went through the quarterfinals of Qatar 2022 by narrowly beating Australia 2-1 at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, putting an end of the Socceroos dream. The team managed by Lionel Scaloni will now face the Netherlands, who had earlier beaten USA 3-1.
Pressure or lack of pressure. That was the main question hanging in the air as candidates Argentina –having recovered from a disastrous start against Saudi Arabia– and underdogs Australia, with a restored confidence after recording two consecutive World Cup wins, prepared for their Round of 16 thrillers. And in fact, with or without pressure, both teams started without taking risks, with the ball moving laterally and without going deep.
In the first half, the game was completely locked (with only one recorded shot that had ended in a throw-in), but Messi’s full brilliance appeared in the 35th minute, as he received the ball from De Paul, passed it to MacAllister and captured the deflected pass of Otamendi to shoot unmarked to the far post of Australia’s Matthew Ryan.
But the real emotions swept all tactical plans in the second half, as Argentina’s Julian Alvarez stole the ball from Ryan and scored the 2-0, just when Scaloni had added a fifth defender (Lisandro Martinez) substituting Papu Gómez. With the second goal and the five defenders, the game appeared to be finished, but the shot from Craig Goodwin took a deflection in Enzo Fernández and ended in the back of the net in the 32nd minute, giving Australia an unexpected life. And they clearly pushed for the miracle, forcing Lisandro Martínez to make a brilliant sweeping tackle when they were about about to score, and what it will be remembered as a historic save by Dibu Martínez in the 97th minute.
With more space, Argentina had several chances to score the 3-1, but Lautaro Martínez squandered two chances. With the Australian comeback, the victory, which appeared to be secured after the 2-0, had unexpectedly been polished with some epic that Argentinians refer to as they look for a mythical connection with their two previous World Cup victories. “We have hope again, we want the third one, we want to be world champions”, they sung past midnight, convinced that this will be the World Cup of Messi, the captain and symbol who led the celebrations on the pitch just as he leads the team.
Pressure or lack of pressure. That was the main question hanging in the air as candidates Argentina –having recovered from a disastrous start against Saudi Arabia– and underdogs Australia, with a restored confidence after recording two consecutive World Cup wins, prepared for their Round of 16 thrillers. And in fact, with or without pressure, both teams started without taking risks, with the ball moving laterally and without going deep.
In the first half, the game was completely locked (with only one recorded shot that had ended in a throw-in), but Messi’s full brilliance appeared in the 35th minute, as he received the ball from De Paul, passed it to MacAllister and captured the deflected pass of Otamendi to shoot unmarked to the far post of Australia’s Matthew Ryan.
But the real emotions swept all tactical plans in the second half, as Argentina’s Julian Alvarez stole the ball from Ryan and scored the 2-0, just when Scaloni had added a fifth defender (Lisandro Martinez) substituting Papu Gómez. With the second goal and the five defenders, the game appeared to be finished, but the shot from Craig Goodwin took a deflection in Enzo Fernández and ended in the back of the net in the 32nd minute, giving Australia an unexpected life. And they clearly pushed for the miracle, forcing Lisandro Martínez to make a brilliant sweeping tackle when they were about about to score, and what it will be remembered as a historic save by Dibu Martínez in the 97th minute.
With more space, Argentina had several chances to score the 3-1, but Lautaro Martínez squandered two chances. With the Australian comeback, the victory, which appeared to be secured after the 2-0, had unexpectedly been polished with some epic that Argentinians refer to as they look for a mythical connection with their two previous World Cup victories. “We have hope again, we want the third one, we want to be world champions”, they sung past midnight, convinced that this will be the World Cup of Messi, the captain and symbol who led the celebrations on the pitch just as he leads the team.
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