Messi and Julián Álvarez celebrate Argentina’s first goal against Australia.
Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
Qatar’s Ahmad Bim witnessed Argentina’s victory over Australia in a match in which Lionel Messi took center stage from the start against some cautious Socceroos who held out for the first half hour of the game; nevertheless the Albiceleste patiently knew how to decipher the game and ended up winning 2-1.
Those led by Lionel Scaloni found it difficult to deepen at the beginning of the match but the difference for having Lionel Messi was going to be palpable on the scoreboard. It was at minute 35 that the Argentine captain managed to decipher the Socceroos behind and put his team ahead.
With this goal Lionel Messi reaches nine in World Cups and surpasses Diego Armando Maradona, only remaining behind the historical scorer, Gabriel Omar Batistuta.
At the beginning of the second half, Argentina came out with everything to look for the goal early, however the Australians continued to do their thing defensively.
It was not until minute 57 when “La Araña” Julián Álvarez overcame the Australian goalkeeper and defined as the greats to score 2-0 in favor of those directed by Lionel Scaloni.
Subsequently, Lionel Messi had several scoring chances that did not end up materializing and It was the Australians with a shot by Craig Goodwin deflected by Enzo Fernández who at minute 77 achieved the discount goal to put the game within range of those led by Graham Arnold.
The last 10 minutes would be a heart attack with a lump in the throat for both fans. At the end of the match, Messi started in three quarters of the field and released a precise pass that Lautaro Martínez wasted, missing the third goal.
Lautaro himself was going to waste two more occasions and Messi took over but the third did not come in a memorable performance by the Argentine 10 in the round of 16 in which he also managed to break the curse of not scoring goals in the decisive phases of the world cups.
However, Australia had one at the end, the 18-year-old pearl, Garang Kuol tried to define but Dibu Martínez stopped a ball that was shouted like a goal by the entire Argentine team.
Finally, those led by Lionel Scaloni won the victory over a disciplined Australian team that sold their defeat dearly, now Argentina meets the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, in a game that already promises infinite emotions.
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