Lionel Messi made his 1,000th match a memorable one as he scored the opening goal that led Argentina past Australia 2-1 in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
http://gty.im/1446662117
Julian Avarez scored the other goal for Argentina in the second half, but Argentina gave up a late goal that left some nerves on the field in the waning minutes.
Argentina moves on to the quarterfinals to face the Netherlands next Friday. The Netherlands ran past the USA, 3-1, in the earlier match on Saturday.
“I’m very happy for taking another step forward, achieving another objective,” Messi said. “It was a very strong and difficult match. We knew it was going to be this way. We didn’t have much time to rest up and we were concerned as we knew it was going to be a physical match, and they were very strong. Luckily, we found the goal and we were one goal ahead, and then two goals ahead. Then we had a setback with the goal but that’s the World Cup for you, the matches are difficult, and we got the win.”
Messi found the back of the net in the 35th minute in the first half. Alvarez added the second goal in the 57th minute. But there was either confusion or fatigue led to the Australian goal in the 77th minute. Which was an own goal off of Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez that was from a Craig Goodwin shot and was deflected into the goal.
“(Messi) was incredible and one of the greatest ever,” Australia manager Graham Arnold said. “We really worked hard not to be in awe of him, because of the great player he is. But now. he’s remarkable. I had the privilege of playing against Diego Maradona and now coaching against Messi. They’re both wonderful players and Argentina should be so proud, and happy to have players of that Caliber.”
After that point, in the remaining minutes and extra time, Australia tried for the comeback that didn’t materialize. Australia still had an impressive run throughout the tournament.
“Our guys are extremely disappointed,” Arnold said. “It’s not every day you get to play the third-best nation in the world and ply those type of players.
“I felt we did a good job. I wanted to say how proud I am of them and their sacrifices they’ve made through the campaign. Everyone said before we came here, we were the worst soccer team ever, and to qualify for the World Cup, but that’s gone now, and we’ve done exceptionally well.”
Messi continues to reach new standards for Argentina in the World Cup. He equaled Maradona’s eight World Cup goals in the previous match against Mexico. He also surpassed the 1986 World Cup Winner and Guillermo Stabile, who scored eight times in the 1930 World Cup with his ninth goal at the tournament on Saturday.
He’s just one goal away from Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 10 goals for Argentina, which was scored at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
Messi started playing in the World Cup in 2006 coming off the bench with a goal in his debut and failed to score in 2010. He had scored four times in three matches in 2014 and just once in 2018. But here in 2022, he’s found the back of the net four times and looking for more.
At this point, Messi is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer with 94 goals in 169 appearances for the national team. Maradona had scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina from 1977-1994.
