By Dylan Bettencourt
Lionel Messi and Argentina needed a penalty shootout to get the better of Netherlands despite having a two goal lead.
After the shock result of Croatia knocking out Brazil beforehand, either side knew they would head into their semi-final as favourites.
The opening stages played out to be quite the cagey affair, with neither side putting a foot wrong.
However a player like Messi has the ability to unlock even the perfect defence, and that is exactly what he did.
The 35-year-old dazzled his way past several Dutch players before playing the perfect pass to the onrushing right-back Nahuel Molina, who slotted home with ease.
It is not often in football when the assist for a goal is appreciated more than the finish, this was one of those times.
The second-half played out much the same with Argentina dominating the ball as Netherlands looked less and less likely to trouble Emiliano Martinez in the Argentine goal.
The final nail looked to be in the coffin when left-back Maros Acuna was brought down in the box with 20 minutes to go.
Messi stepped up to the spot, looking to score his 10th World Cup goal – and possibly his second knockout stage goal.
However, in a feature of the World Cup, late drama came to the fore when Wout Weghorst found the back of the net with Netherlands first attempt on target in the 83rd minute, a well-timed header into the bottom corner.
It was that man Weghorst again equalised for Netherlands in the 100th minute of the fixture, following a well-worked free-kick routine.
The game went into extra-time where neither side was able to score the winner, taking the game to a penalty shootout.
The writing was on the wall when Netherlands missed their opening two penalties as Argentina walked away 4-3 winners in the shootout.
Pictured above: Argentina’s celebrations
Image source: @ManagingBarca
