Key events
52 minutes “Argentina’s kit is one of the hardest to mess up – wide sky blue and white vertical stripes to the front and back – but somehow adidas pulled it off. year,” says Andy Flintoff. “Three narrow stripes down the middle of the back make every shirt look like it’s been badly sewn.”
51 minutes Yes, Argentina went 3-5-2, like they did (I believe) in the second half against Mexico last week.
50 minutes After a nice passing move, all the way through Australian press, Messi slips as he shoots from the edge of the D. He takes a deflection and rolls to Ryan.
50 min: Argentina Substitution Lisandro Martinez replaces Papu Gomez. Hmm, does that mean a switch to 3-5-2?
48 minutes “My living room speakers are shaking from the frenzied chanting of what appears to be tens of thousands of Argentines transplanted straight from La Bombonera,” Marc writes. “It’s surreal because I feel like a home game for Argentina. How many Argentinian fans are there in this stadium? It must be shaking. I can’t imagine what a BRA v ARG would be like.
Can you imagine. Unless you count the 1978 brawl, which was a semi-final in nature if not in name, they have never met in the semi-final or final of a World Cup.
48 minutes Emi Martinez struggles in possession and is nearly robbed by Mitchell Duke. Martinez’s clearance grazed Duke’s stretching boot and ran to safety.
47 mins”Argentina seem unable to break the fast,” says Zafar Sobhan. “Every time they get the ball back they bring it back and slow it down, giving the defense time to prepare. Not only does that make football boring, they just make it exponentially harder for themselves to score. C “That’s why they create so few chances. It’s a good thing for them to be so clinical, but it’s not a way to live.
On this form I don’t see them winning, but we’ve said that about a few teams over the years. Italy in 1982 is the obvious example.
46 minutes Peeppeep! Argentina start the second half.
Reading at halftime
“According to the picture, Messi’s shot doesn’t seem to be in the corner as he goes in,” says Richard Hirst. “Should the keeper have done better?
I wondered, but I don’t think so for two reasons: Messi shot early and Ryan probably saw him late because he went through Souttar’s legs. It was a great finish.
Half: Argentina 1-0 Australia
A perfect first half for Australia – except for the five-second period in which Lionel Messi picked up the pace to devastating effect. He started and finished a fine move to score his 789th goal, and his first in the Round of 16 of a World Cup, in his 1,000th game.
It was the only shot on target at either end. Australia defended with calm authority and kept the ball quite comfortably at times. But sometimes great footballers are just a little too good.
44 minutes “This,” said Amanjit Gill, “is not good for the old ticker.”
44 minutes “I’m pretty sure,” says Alex Whitney, “that goal was dedicated to Behich.”
Please tell me he did the Valverde in front of him.
43 minutes Argentina picked up where they left off before the goal: slow-slow-slow. They should go kill here.
42 minutes Overall, it was Messi’s ninth World Cup goal, putting it one shy of Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentine record.
41 minutes “My mates and I are rooting for Australia,” says Miguel Coelho, “for the only reason we want to see Jackson Irvine score while we debate if it’s a porn star mustache of the years 70 or a teenager who wants to look older. Come on Australians!
40 minutes The Argentinian supporters, who were rather discreet before the goal, are now making a happy racket. Australia just need to get to half-time with no further damage.
39 minutes One of the interesting things about Messi’s goal is that it stemmed from him playing the tough man. He pushed Behich out of play, which annoyed Behich to the extent that he kicked Gomez seconds later. The resulting free kick led to the goal.
38 minutes Degenek is severely cautioned for a foul on Acuna. He will also miss the quarter-final if Australia get there.
It came from that free kick on the right. Messi swung it into the box from six yards, where Souttar moved in front of Ryan to clear. Papu Gomez sent a nonchalant volley at Messi, who scampered down the field and gave the ball to Mac Allister at the edge of the D. He sent it to Otamendi, who tagged it *at Messi, charging into the box . Messi took a quick throw-in and snagged a daisy on Ryan. It’s a great finish, a pass rather than a shot, and much more like the slow-slow-fast football we expected to see tonight.
* Or poorly controlled, I’m not entirely sure.
OBJECTIVE! Argentina 1-0 Australia (Yep 35)
Lionel Messi scores his first goal in a World Cup knockout game!
34 minutes Baccus dispossesses Messi for the fourth time in around five minutes. Perhaps the lack of recovery time is one of the reasons for Argentina’s lackluster performance.
Behich, angered by a legitimate shoulder charge from Messi, puts Gomez in the air. It’s a stupid tackle that gives Argentina a free kick on the right wing.
33 minutes Right now the pace in Argentina is slow-slow-slow.
31 minutes Baccus makes another good tackle on Messi, who was preparing to shoot from around 25 yards out.
30 minutes De Paul finds Messi in some space, but he’s quickly outrun by a combination of Mooy and Baccus.
29 minutes Irvine wins a corner on the left. McGree’s winger is met by the mighty Souttar, whose downward header hits Romero and ricochets to safety.
28 minutes “Having just pointed out that the Australian kit looks a bit like the Brazilian kit,” begins Andy Gordon, “my Argentine wife’s fervor for this game has just kicked up a few notches.”
27 minutes This is – no offense – total Argentinian crap. Australia look so comfortable defensively, and right now they have more ball too.
25 minutes “Argentina play as if they are perpetually looking for their way in the first five minutes of the match,” said Paul Fitzgerald.
Yes, the pace was really slow. As Danny Murphy points out on the BBC cover, the Australian press isn’t the best either, so Australia are capable of passing the ball in defence.
24 minutes Mooy’s outgoing corner is decisively headed in by Otamendi.
24 minutes After a long period of possession, Leckie’s cross hits Acuna and goes behind for the game’s first corner. Set pieces are really important for Australia…
22 minutes Australia take care of an extra 60 seconds by passing the ball from behind. Graham Arnold will be very happy with the first quarter of the match.
20 mins “A team???” sniffs Alan Terlep. “70s??? The A-Team is one of the most 80s American TV shows of the 80s. It wouldn’t have existed without Ronald Reagan.
Yeah I had a shock there.
19 minutes Australia’s first good attack. Irvine arrives at the left line and brings an excellent ball to Behich. He moves into the area but is well followed by De Paul and ends up taking the ball out of play.
18 minutes “I currently have Covid and my heart rate is elevated,” says Amanjit Gill. “So I really REALLY need us to keep Messi out of our box. My life may depend on it.
And people thought Bill Shankly was being sarcastic.
17 minutes Gomez cuts in from the left and puts one in orbit.
17 minutes I know it’s a cliché, but this awareness is like a training exercise: attack and defense, invasion and repulsion. So far, Australia is doing very well, although there is still a long way to go.
