Argentina
are through to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup after beating
Belgium 1-0 at the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia on Saturday.
Gonzalo
Higuain's eighth-minute strike proved to be the telling contribution as
Argentina made it through to the World Cup semi-final stage for the
first time since 1990.
They
will now face the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday after becoming
the third side to book a semi-final date, with Germany and Brazil
progressing on Friday.
The
lone caveat for Argentina was an injury to influential midfielder Angel
Di Maria that forced him off in the first half and may yet deny him a
chance to play in the semi-final.
All
five of Argentina's victories in the competition have come via a
one-goal margin and so often it has been Lionel Messi that has provided
the telling contribution.
Indeed,
the Barcelona playmaker was influential throughout for Alejandro
Sabella's side, but it was an instinctive strike from Napoli striker
Higuain that decided the tie.
Messi started off playing deep, seeing plenty of the ball and creating some good positions for his team-mates.
One such move put Ezequiel Lavezzi clear on the right and only Vincent Kompany's alert intervention prevented a goal.
Jubilant: Argentina celebrate Gonzalo Higuain's decisive goal
It
took less than eight minutes however for Argentina to take a huge step
towards the semi-final and it was Messi, twisting and turning in
midfield, who was the architect.
His
incisive pass to Di Maria was diverted to Higuain, taking a nick off a
defender which caused the ball to bounce up for the Napoli striker to
swivel and thump a first-time shot low into the corner from 25 yards
out.
Belgium
attempted to make some headway but Argentina immediately dropped back
into two banks of four whenever they lost possession and when the Red
Devils did get into good positions, they failed to make use of them.
Jan Vertonghen put in a stunning cross but not a single red shirt tried to reach it, and Argentina cleared it unchallenged.
Kevin
de Bruyne nearly surprised Sergio Romero with a shot with a short
back-lift, and the rebound from the save only just eluded Divock Origi.
A
dream of a pass from Messi sliced through the Belgian ranks for Di
Maria but Kompany did brilliantly to get back to block him - and the
Real Madrid winger injured himself while taking the shot and had to be
replaced by Enzo Perez.
First-half casualty: Angel Di Maria
Messi
was crudely halted when close to dribbling through a pack of red shirts
on the edge of the Belgium area, and then fizzed the free-kick over the
top.
Belgium's
best chance of the first half came just before the break when another
Vertonghen cross this time found De Bruyne, but his diving header
bounced wide.
The
second half was strangely muted given what was at stake, with Argentina
happy to keep things tight and Belgium failing to make much impression.
Higuain
cut in and drilled in a low effort that deflected off Daniel van Buyten
and past the near-post with Thibaut Courtois stranded, then the Lazio
striker sped into the Belgium half, nutmegged Kompany while at full
speed, and fairly belted a shot that smacked the top of the bar.
Marouane
Fellaini, who had spent most of the match being bypassed by Messi,
failed to make up for it when another Vertonghen cross picked him out,
the Manchester United player heading over.
Hands in the air: Belgium were picked apart by Argentina
Eden
Hazard was equally disappointing, his main contribution being booked
for going in high on Lucas Biglia - on another day it could have been
red - and he was replaced by Nacer Chadli in the 75th minute.
In a mirror image of Higuain's deflected miss, De Bruyne had a slow shot deflected just wide.
In
the closing minutes, Marc Wilmots went for broke by pushing his tallest
players, Fellaini and Van Buyten, up front as extra strikers and
Belgium threw the kitchen sink at Argentina but the South Americans held
out against the aerial bombardment, with substitute Romelu Lukaku and
Axel Witsel coming closest.
There
was time too for Messi to break clear and sprint in on Courtois. The
world waited for what looked an inevitable goal but Messi's attempted
finish was brilliantly blocked by the Belgium keeper, even if it
mattered not to the final outcome.
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