Lionel Messi advances to next round with help from his Argentina friends

They had to work overtime for it, but Argentina and Lionel Messi are moving on to the next round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Argentina gave up a two-goal lead in the second half, but were able to get past the Netherlands in a penalty shootout in an epic encounter adding another great chapter to the World Cup rivalry between the two teams.

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two outstanding saves in the shootout and Lautaro Martinez scored the decisive penalty to his team into the semifinal where they will face Croatia, who upset Brazil in a penalty shootout earlier in the day.

The Netherlands came close to spoiling a special night for Messi, who set up Argentina’s first goal and then scored the second.

Argentina appeared to be cruising towards victory, but the Netherlands scored in the 83rd minute and then tied it on practically the last kick of regulation, 11 minutes into second-half extra time. It was the latest equalizer in the history of the World Cup.

Wout Weghorst came off the bench to score both goals for the Netherlands and then buried another in the shootout.

Messi also scored in the shootout, leading off his team, while Leandro Paredes, and Gonzalo Montiel also scored from the spot.

Enzo Fernandez, who was outstanding in the heart of the Argentina midfield, missed with a chance to seal the game, but Martinez was able to pick up the spare.

The Netherlands took turns designating a player to stand beside Messi all game, but as he’s shown so far in this tournament, it only takes a short moment of time and a tiny bit of space for him to make a difference.

Messi found that modicum space in the 35th minute when he sent a defence-splitting pass through to Nahuel Molina to score Argentina’s opening goal. Molina took the pass and slotted the ball past Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert.

Molina ran to the corner to meet Messi, who leapt into his arms.

Messi came inches of giving Argentina a two-goal lead on a free kick awarded to him when he ran at the heart of the Argentina defence. Even at 35, Messi still has breakaway speed and may be the fastest player with the ball in the history of the game.

Messi was fouled just at the left of the penalty area, and bent his free-kick back across the face of the net and just over the crossbar over the head of Noppert, who like the rest of the world, though he was going to go for the near corner and was lined up to dive in that direction.

Messi did get his goal in the 73rd minute, converting a penalty kick after Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries swept the leg on midfielder Marcos Acuna just inside the left of the penalty area.

Messi calmly stepped up and slotted the ball past Noppert to give Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was Messi’s 95th goal for his country and ninth in a World Cup.

From there Argentina should have cruised to the end, but the Netherlands got one back as Weghorst headed in a cross past Martinez to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The goal gave Netherlands hope and Steven Berghuis came close to tying in minutes later when the ball fell to him and he hammered a shot just to the outside of the post into the side netting. Half the stadium thought he had scored.

Argentina tried holding on, but a gave the Netherlands one final chance when defender German Pezzella bowled over Weghorst at the top of the area on ball dropping into the space. The Netherlands took the opportunity and scored on a well-designed free kick as Teun Koopmeiners played it past the Argentina wall to Weghorst making a run in behind it. Weghorst then slotted the ball into the corner past Martinez. The goal came 11 minutes into second-half extra time.

Argentina had the better chances in extra time with Fernandez hitting the goal post in the dying seconds of extra time.

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