Argentina beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals, and Lionel Messi scored his first goal in the World Cup elimination stage to commemorate his 1,000th career appearance.
At Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Australia was content to delay their opponents, but as halftime drew near, Messi used his signature style to split the Socceroos open, picking out the bottom-left corner to score.
As exquisite as Argentina’s first goal was, their second goal almost bordered on the ludicrous as Australia goalie Mathew Ryan sent the ball to Julian Alvarez, who scored the game-winning goal with ease.
When Craig Goodwin’s shot bounced off Enzo Fernandez and past Emiliano Martinez, Australia cut the deficit in half, but Argentina never looked like they would be beaten as they set up a quarterfinal matchup with the Netherlands.
Argentina found it difficult to advance early on due to Graham Arnold’s team’s staunch defense, but La Albiceleste can credit their seven-time Ballon d’Or winner for helping them take the lead with their first significant attack.
After 35 minutes had passed, Messi ducked inside from the right flank to grab Nicolas Otamendi’s pass before putting a brilliant side-footed finish over Ryan’s helpless dive.
As Argentina sought a second goal after the break, Messi had a shot ricochet into Ryan’s arms. However, Ryan was at fault when Argentina extended their lead after 57 minutes.
When pressured by Rodrigo De Paul and Alvarez, Ryan puzzlingly attempted to dribble his way out of difficulty, and the Manchester City striker executed the easiest of finishes after seizing the ball.
When Fernandez unintentionally deflected Goodwin’s long-range shot into the bottom right corner, Australia unexpectedly cut the lead. Lisandro Martinez then made a superb last-ditch block to stop Aziz Behich from scoring a dramatic equalizer.
As Argentina clung on to secure their advancement, substitute Lautaro Martinez came close on three separate occasions until Emiliano Martinez stopped Garang Kuol from close range at the end.
Messi surpasses Maradona, chases Batistuta
On the day Messi brought up 1,000 career appearances – 169 of them for Argentina, he also inched closer to making another piece of history for his country.
Messi’s opener saw him surpass Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stabile’s tallies of eight World Cup goals. Only Gabriel Batistuta (10) has now outscored Messi when representing the country at the tournament.
Alvarez impresses once more
While Messi stole the headlines on Saturday, his 22-year-old strike partner also demonstrated his worth with another energetic performance.
Alvarez’s goal may have owed much to the poor decision-making of Ryan, but it made the City striker just the sixth Argentina player to score on each of his first two World Cup starts, and the first since Hernan Crespo did so in 2006.