Nahuel molina, Argentina football player

Doha, Dec 10 Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved two penalties to help Argentina beat the Netherlands in the FIFA World Cup quarter-final penalty shootout and set up a semi-final against Croatia.On Friday at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, the Dutch came back strongly from two goals down to level the scores at the death and take the game into extra time but fell short in the penalty shootout.The late fightback meant that Lionel Messi's magic, of setting up a goal and then scoring a goal from the spot kick almost meant nothing as Argentina squandered a two-goal lead at the death.Messi now tied Gabriel Batistuta on an Argentinian record 10 goals at the World Cup and can gain sole possession of the record in the semi-final and the final or third-place game as he aims to win the biggest prize in football in his fifth appearance at the World Cup.Messi fed Nahuel Molina with a sensational pass to score in the 35th, and then calmly converted a 73th-minute penalty as Argentina seemed well on course with a 2-0.But substitute Wout Weghorst headed the Dutch back into the game in the 83rd and then forced extra time 11 minutes into stoppage time in an extraordinary free-kick trick play, scoring with the final kick of the game.With the 30 minutes of extra time failing to break the 2-2 deadlock, it was left to the penalty shootout to decide the winner in the second quarter-final of the day.Martinez was the shoot-out hero saving the first two Dutch penalties from captain Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis, while Lautaro Martinez clinched the matter for Argentina.Messi will claim the overall World Cup match record if he plays in the remaining two games. He played his 24th match on Friday, with record holder Lothar Matthäus of Germany one ahead on 25 matches.The Copa America champions next meet Croatia on Tuesday after the 2018 runners-up shocked record five-time winners Brazil 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 deadlock in 120 minutes.The Dutch failed to reach the last four for the third time in four editions and suffered a shoot-out loss to Argentina just as in the 2014 semi-finals.Messi leads the celebrations for La Albiceleste as they pulled away to win the thriller.In the last two quarter-finals on Saturday, Ronaldo's Portugal meet Morocco in the first match, while England meet France in the second match of the day.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Narendra Modi

Lok Sabha Election 2024

Heatwave In India

Mumbai Water Cut

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election

IPL 2024

Nahuel MolinaFOLLOW

Nahuel molina, Latest News

Football :Messi happy to qualify for semifinals

Doha, Dec 10 Lionel Messi admitted his side had suffered to qualify for the semifinals of the World ... ...

Football :FIFA WC QFs: Molina strikes, Messi assists to help Argentina secure 1-0 lead at half-time against Netherlands

A strike from Nahuel Molina with a beautiful assist from Lionel Messi gave Argentina a 1-0 lead during the ... ...

Football :Martinez heroics take Argentina into semis

Doha, Dec 10 Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved two penalties to help Argentina beat the Netherlands in the FIFA ... ...