Lionel Messi stated he was blissful after he led Argentina to a 2-1 win over Australia to succeed in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Saturday.
The 35-year-old stated, “It was a difficult day. We had very little rest time. We did not recover well. It was a very physical match. Happy for this victory and for taking another step.”
ARGENTINA 2-1 AUSTRALIA HIGHLIGHTS
Messi, who was enjoying his one thousandth skilled match for membership and nation, gave Albiceleste lead within the thirty fifth minute with a left-footed strike from contained in the field to beat a diving Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan and discover the underside left nook.
“I found out today that it was the 1000th match. I live in the moment, I enjoy what we’re going through and I’m happy to take one more step, to get through to the quarterfinals,” he stated.
Julian Alvarez doubled the lead for the South Americans within the 57th minute. However, Craig Goodwin’s strike from exterior the field which took a deflection off Enzo Fernandez within the 77th minute stored Australia’s hopes alive. The Socceroos got here near equalising within the dying seconds of the match however Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a surprising save to make sure his group’s victory.
Messi stated, “We controlled this. match. Apart from the last save that Dibu (Martínez) made, we didn’t suffer too much”.
“We were able to take the lead, score the second and control the game. They marked us and made it a bit difficult for us at the end, but this is a World Cup and that’s how it is.”
Argentina subsequent faces the Netherlands in a repeat of the 2014 World Cup semifinal which the South American nation received 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw.
Talking concerning the match-up, Messi stated, “We’re going to have a very tough match-up. It’s going to be very difficult, they’re going to want to take the ball away from us. At this point, the World Cup is getting even tougher.”
He added, “We wanted to be here because of how it feels like and what people transmit. We must remain united.”
Get all the outcomes for the FIFA World Cup 2022 right here: Full checklist of all matches, scores, outcomes, goalscorers
