Izuchukwu Okosi
Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez produced superb saves during penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis before Lautaro Martinez scored the winning spot kick to secure them a 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands on Friday after their World Cup quarter-final finished 2-2 after 120 minutes.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIn a scrappy half-hour of extra time with the scores level, youngster Enzo Fernandez rattled the post in the closing seconds while Martinez and German Pezzella also had efforts blocked or parried away as Argentina desperately pushed for a winner.
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The Netherlands had rarely troubled Argentina during the match before substitute Wout Weghorst’s header in the 83rd minute sparked them into life and he rolled the ball past goalkeeper Emi Martinez deep into stoppage time to send the game into extra time.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi had superbly set up Nahuel Molina for their first-half opener, threading a sublime pass through the Dutch defence, before coolly slotting in a penalty in the 73rd minute after Denzel Dumfries fouled Marcos Acuna.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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