December 03, (THEWILL) – Argentina beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday, to advance to the quarterfinals, and Lionel Messi scored his first goal in the World Cup knockout stage to commemorate his 1,000th career appearance.
At the 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 ludicrous as Australia goalkeeper, Mathew Ryan, sent the ball to Julian Alvarez, who scored the game-winning goal with ease.
Craig Goodwin helped the Aussies half the deficit when his shot bounced off Enzo Fernandez and past Emiliano Martinez, but Argentina never looked like they would be beaten as they held on comfortably to finish off the match and set up a quarterfinal match with the Netherlands.
While Australia’s amazing competition comes to an end, Argentina will now prepare to take on the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Friday. Kickoff is at 8pm.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
