Argentina will meet Croatia in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals after defeating the Netherlands on penalties on Friday night.
2022 FIFA World Cup
Result: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (Argentina won 4-3 on penalties)
Date: 09 December 2022
Venue: Lusail Iconic Stadium
The Albiceleste made one change from the win over Australia as Lisandro Martinez came in for Alejandro Gomez, while Steven Bergwijn filled in as the Netherlands sole change from their win over United States.
It was a quiet start to the match for the two sets of teams and no clear chances in the last third showed, but a tussle for possession and strong tackles were the order of the da
Argentina managed to find courage ten minutes ahead of halftime and went in front when Nahuel Molina ran in space in the area and tucked in a clever pass by Lionel Messi.
Before going down, Die Oranje launched a threat when a ball from deep in midfield allocated Memphis Depay and saw the forward drag wide from a promising position.
The Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal made two alterations ahead of the second half , with Teun Koopmeiners replacing Marten de Roon while Steven Berghuis came in for Bergwijn.
Argentina showed a lot of purpose after the break and pushed their counterparts back all in pursuit of a second whilst the tie raged on.
Lionel Scaloni's men urged on ahead of the closing 20 minutes and snatched a second when Messi blasted in from the penalty spot after Denzel Dumfries upended Marcos Acuna in the area.
Netherlands, though, had a lifeline seven minutes before time where substitute Wout Weghorst ran in at the near post and headed in a pin-point cross from Dumfries.
Weghorst rescued the host from the brink of defeat as he pounced on a loose pass in the area off a free-kick and tucked past a diving Emiliano Martinez and 30 minutes of extra-time followed.
Argentina looked to regain the lead deep in extra-time when a powerful strike by Enzo Fernandez from a clever angle hit the frame of the woodwork, sending the game to a penalty shoot-out.
Martinez stole the show in the shoot-out with two saves to deny Virgil Van Dijk and Berghuis before Lautaro Martinez netted the decisive spot-kick to send the Dutch packing from the tournament.
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