Favourites made to sweat
Australia and the US refuse to roll over in the cup’s round of 16
Lionel Messi was pushed into the middle of a joyous post-match huddle as Argentina’s players jumped up and down to celebrate reaching the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi delivered again for his country, marking the 1000th game of his eradefining career with his first goal in the knockout stage of a World Cup to lead Argentina to a 2-1 win over Australia yesterday.
This was not the walkover most were expecting, though.
At the final whistle, Argentina were just as grateful for the goalkeeper as the No 10 with magic in his boots.
Emi Martinez came up with a sprawling save in the last seconds of an increasingly anxious match for Argentina to prevent the need for extra time and the potential of another shock in a World Cup that has been full of them.
“We gave it everything,” Australia striker Jackson Irvine said through tears, “but it wasn’t enough.”
With a flourish of his famous left foot in the 34th minute, Messi put Argentina ahead with his third goal at this year’s tournament and ninth in total at the World Cup — one more than Diego Maradona.
Julia´n A´lvarez pounced on a heavy touch by Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to tap into an empty net for the second goal as Argentina set up a meeting with the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Australia scored a 77th-minute consolation goal when Craig Goodwin’s shot deflected into the net off Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Amid late pressure from the Australians, there was a chance for Garang Kuol to send the game to extra time but his shot was smothered by Martinez.
For Australia’s squad of unheralded players, it proved to be a match too far at a tournament in which the team has exceeded expectations by reaching the knockout stage for only the second time. Australia also lost in the last 16 in 2006, to eventual
We’re moving in the right direction, for
sure. US captain Tyler Adams
champions Italy.
A late bombardment of high balls nearly paid off, with two Argentina players falling on top of Martinez after his dramatic late save.
● Memphis Depay and Daley Blind scored in the first half and Denzel Dumfries added a late goal as the Netherlands eliminated the United States with a 3-1 victory Saturday that advanced the Dutch to the quarterfinals.
Second-half substitute Haji Wright cut the US deficit to 2-1 in the 76th minute when Christian Pulisic’s cross hit his trailing foot and popped over goalkeeper Andries Noppert and into the net. But Dumfries, who assisted on the first two goals, scored on a volley in the 81st.
“When you play a team with so much quality like that and you give them three, four chances, they’re going to put three or four away,” United States captain Tyler Adams said.
“We can show that we can hang with some of the best teams in the world, some of the best players in world, and that’s a lot of progress for US soccer. We’re moving in the right direction, for sure, but we need to keep pushing, because we’re not there yet. But we’re close.”
Runners-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010, the Oranje extended their unbeaten streak to 19 games and face Argentina on Saturday.
“I think we made some progress,” United States coach Gregg Berhalter said. “When people look at our team, they see a clear identity. They see guys that go out and fight for each other. They see the talent on the field. We made progress, but on this particular night we came up short.” ● Brazilian great Pele´ is responding well to treatment for a respiratory infection and his health condition has not worsened over the latest 24 hours, the Albert Einstein hospital said yesterday.
The 82-year-old has been at the hospital since Tuesday.
Get well messages have poured in from around the world for the three-time World Cup winner, who is also undergoing cancer treatment. Kely Nascimento, Pele´‘s daughter, posted several pictures from Brazil fans in Qatar wishing her father well. Buildings in the Middle Eastern nation also displayed messages in support of the former great.
Neither his family nor the hospital has said whether the cancer had spread from his colon to other organs.