ARGENTINA booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup with a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over The Netherlands after full-time and extra-time ended 2-2 in Doha tonight.
The South Americans were heading to a comfortable victory in regulation time when the Dutch scored two late goals to take the encounter to extra-time and penalties.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez emerged the hero of the shootout, saving two of five Dutch kicks while Argentina scored four of theirs.
It was looking like a routine win without any drama when Argentina took a 2-0 lead into the late stages of the game.
Nahuel Molina gave Argentina the lead in the 35th minute after Lionel Messi set the wing-back up with a brilliant pass that cut through the tight Netherlands defence.
The game was on a knife edge until the 73rd minute when Messi converted a penalty for his fourth goal of the tournament.
Argentina’s second goal forced Dutch head coach Luis van Gaal into some desperate changes as he introduced strikers Wout Weghorst and Luuk De Jong in a bid to turn it around.
The Netherlands became more direct and they pulled one back when Weghorst headed home in the 83rd minute.
There were a lot of stoppages in the game as it became scrappy and tackles went flying, making the referee to indicate 10 minutes of added time.
It was in the final seconds of that added time that Weghorst struck again, finishing off a clever free-kick routine after Argentina committed yet another foul.
Extra-time produced no more goals although Argentina went close twice, Virgil van Dijk making a last-ditch clearance and Enzo Fernandez hitting the base of the upright.
In the shootout, Messi, Leandro Paredes,Gonzalo Montiel and Lautaro Martinez scored for Argentina, with Fernandez accounting for their only miss.
Argentina goalkeeper Martinez saved the first two kicks of The Netherlands from Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis, and the goals scored by the three players that followed were not enough.
Two-time champions Argentina will battle 2018 finalists Croatia in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
