Emi Martinez Saves TWO Penalties in Shoot Out to Keep Messi’s World Cup Dream Alive
- last year
Just when it seemed that he had single-handedly driven the country to a semi-final last night, rising above the humdrum and ordinary to electrify the night, there came a reminder of the brutality of this sport and its indifference to the fairytale.
Wout Weghorst, on loan at Besiktas from Burnley, where a £12million move did not work out last season, arrived from the bench to strike two late goals, the last of them 11 minutes into added time, and give the Dutch a lifeline.
But when Virgil van Dijk stepped up and missed their first penalty Messi came forward to put Argentina ahead with a cool finish. Stephen Berghuis missed for the Dutch and Argentina completed a 4-3 shootout win.
Some of the Dutch players have formed a prayer group, which Weghorst is understood to have joined for the first time last week, and after a game to which his side made precious little contribution, divine help was necessary.
Messi carried responsibility for the equalising goal, committing a foul on the edge of the box from which Steven Berghuis, shaping to shoot, rolled a low pass from which Weghorst rolled in a low shot.
The same two substitutes had started the rescue. Berghuis swung in a ball that Weghorst, the target man, headed home.
Louis van Gaal, who has borne the brunt of abuse in the Netherlands about a football lacking an aesthetic the nation expects, found himself vindicated again last night as the game went into extra time.
'I do not think there needs to be too much hoo-ha over this,' Dutch manger Louis van Gaal had said when asked how the team would deal with Messi. 'My players are professional enough.'
That assumes that football is a game of cause and effect, lines on a page, instructions on a marker board.
The individual in question transcends the application of logic to this sport, though, and that much became clear once more in the moment, 10 minutes before time when Messi looked one way, passed the other and the orange sentries who until then had held the line were left scrambling hopelessly to keep Nahuel Molina out.
His gaze was fixed left as he drove, balanced, into the Dutch box but somewhere in his peripheral vision was the Atletico Madrid right back. The ball was punched inside Daley Blind, who rounded to try and salvage the situation.
Van Dijk retreated to attempt saving tackle. A lost cause. When the architect of a team is on a different mental and visual trajectory you are just left with blind hope.
Van Gaal's utilitarian approach had worked until then. Argentina's players brought all the emotion, tackling as their lives depended on in and occasional burgling possession in the first half. But they were the street fighters. The Oranje were the uniformed guard and the vast ranks of 40,000 Argentines knew it.
The opportunities that came Argentina's way early in the second half needed a sure touch that was missing. When Mac Allister surged forward after a turnover in possession, he over hit a ball to de Paul. It was the same when de
Wout Weghorst, on loan at Besiktas from Burnley, where a £12million move did not work out last season, arrived from the bench to strike two late goals, the last of them 11 minutes into added time, and give the Dutch a lifeline.
But when Virgil van Dijk stepped up and missed their first penalty Messi came forward to put Argentina ahead with a cool finish. Stephen Berghuis missed for the Dutch and Argentina completed a 4-3 shootout win.
Some of the Dutch players have formed a prayer group, which Weghorst is understood to have joined for the first time last week, and after a game to which his side made precious little contribution, divine help was necessary.
Messi carried responsibility for the equalising goal, committing a foul on the edge of the box from which Steven Berghuis, shaping to shoot, rolled a low pass from which Weghorst rolled in a low shot.
The same two substitutes had started the rescue. Berghuis swung in a ball that Weghorst, the target man, headed home.
Louis van Gaal, who has borne the brunt of abuse in the Netherlands about a football lacking an aesthetic the nation expects, found himself vindicated again last night as the game went into extra time.
'I do not think there needs to be too much hoo-ha over this,' Dutch manger Louis van Gaal had said when asked how the team would deal with Messi. 'My players are professional enough.'
That assumes that football is a game of cause and effect, lines on a page, instructions on a marker board.
The individual in question transcends the application of logic to this sport, though, and that much became clear once more in the moment, 10 minutes before time when Messi looked one way, passed the other and the orange sentries who until then had held the line were left scrambling hopelessly to keep Nahuel Molina out.
His gaze was fixed left as he drove, balanced, into the Dutch box but somewhere in his peripheral vision was the Atletico Madrid right back. The ball was punched inside Daley Blind, who rounded to try and salvage the situation.
Van Dijk retreated to attempt saving tackle. A lost cause. When the architect of a team is on a different mental and visual trajectory you are just left with blind hope.
Van Gaal's utilitarian approach had worked until then. Argentina's players brought all the emotion, tackling as their lives depended on in and occasional burgling possession in the first half. But they were the street fighters. The Oranje were the uniformed guard and the vast ranks of 40,000 Argentines knew it.
The opportunities that came Argentina's way early in the second half needed a sure touch that was missing. When Mac Allister surged forward after a turnover in possession, he over hit a ball to de Paul. It was the same when de