Izuchukwu Okosi
Argentina reached the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar Tuesday night with an emphatic 3-0 win over Crotia at the Lusail Stadium in Doha reports Prime Business Africa.
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The duo of Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez were the best players on the evening as they scored the three goals that condemned the 2018 finalists to only the third place final on Saturday.
Tuesday’s game was the fifth time Argentina has played in a World Cup semifinal. And it is the fifth time it has advanced to a final (defeating the USA in 1930, Belgium in 1986, Italy in 1990 and the Netherlands in 2014). They last won the titel in 1986 when Mexico hosted the world.
Argentina will face either France or Morocco in Sunday’s final while Croatia will play in the third place final with the losers of Wednesday’s clash.
READ ALSO: Argentina Edges Netherlands On Penalties To Set Up Croatia Clash
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni made two changes to the side that beat the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-finals on Friday, with Leandro Paredes and Nicolas Tagliafico coming in for Lisandro Martinez and the suspended Marcos Acuna, while Croatia named an unchanged side following their shootout triumph over Brazil over the weekend.
The first half-hour at the Lusail Stadium was a cagey affair but the game came to life in the 32nd minute when Alvarez ran onto a delightful route-one delivery straight through the Croatian defence before goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic took out the Argentine No.9, with referee Daniele Orsato pointing to the penalty spot.
Messi stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards, placing his effort into the roof of the net to put Argentina ahead and surpass Gabriel Batistuta as the nation’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup with 11 goals.
Four minutes later, Manchester City forward Alvarez doubled Argentina’s lead in remarkable fashion, picking up the ball inside his own half and driving through the heart of Croatia’s defence, albeit with a large stroke of luck, before the ball kindly popped up for the 22-year-old to place a strike with the top of his right boot beyond Livakovic.
Alvarez was later subbed off for Paulo Dybala who was making his World Cup bow.
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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