Angel Di Maria scored in the 118th minute to give Argentina a barely deserved 1-0 win over Switzerland in their last-16 encounter in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, booking their quarterfinal spot.
After a tense 0-0 draw at 90 minutes and a scoreless first period of extra time, Lionel Messi surged up the middle after Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner lost the ball on the halfway line and released Di Maria, who swept the ball home with his left foot before wheeling away in delight.
Blerim Dzemaili almost saved the Swiss when his header hit the post in stoppage time at the end of extra time, but Argentina held on and now face a quarterfinal with either Belgium or the United States, who play later on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t me, the heroes are 23 players and the technical staff. We gave our lives, our souls,” said Di Maria. “We always tried to play, we just made one mistake in the first half that allowed a one-on-one with (keeper Sergio) ‘Chiquito’ Romero.”
“I think the victory is more than deserved.”
Switzerland assistant coach Michel Pont added: “Football is brutal, brutal, brutal. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have enough strength at the end to get through extra time.
“That’s the way it is in soccer, one small mistake. We had a chance to get a goal before that… it’s totally brutal.”
Messi revealed the inner torment his team felt as the game dragged towards a dreaded penalty shootout.
“Suffering, suffering, that’s what we felt,” he said. “We know we will go through times like this. That’s football. We had luck on our side. We need to now move on.”
MARVELLOUS SHOT
Argentina had leaned heavily on Messi throughout the group stage, the mercurial number 10 scoring four of their six goals, and the forward was again at the heart of all their best work, prompting and prodding in front of the massed Swiss defence.
While Switzerland managed to keep Messi off the scoresheet, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said he had made the difference.
“We know that Messi in one second can decide a match, and he has sufficient qualities for that, but then the pass to Di Maria and then the marvellous shot by Di Maria,” said Hitzfeld, who had already announced he was stepping down after the tournament.
He was philosophical about the manner of defeat, which kept his side waiting for their first ever win over Argentina.
“This is football, these are strong emotions and these are emotions you only have in football, and that’s why we love football,” he added.
Switzerland, who were looking to return to the quarter-finals for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1954, went closest to scoring in a tight first half when impish playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri released Josip Drmic through on goal.
The tall striker shaped to shoot but wasted the opportunity with an ill-advised chip and Romero gathered comfortably.
With the score tied at 0-0 at halftime, the game then opened up in the second period as Argentina grabbed the momentum, and their blue and white clad fans brought the Corinthians arena to life, chanting and bouncing in unison.
The warning signs were flashing for Switzerland when Gonzalo Higuain went close with a header before Messi drove into the box and forced Diego Benaglio into a great save.
However, despite camping out in the Swiss half for long sections of the second half Argentina could not make the breakthrough and the 90 minutes ended scoreless.
Argentina looked the stronger side in extra time when Swiss legs began to tire and, just when it looked like Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson would call for a penalty shootout, Messi scampered clear and picked out Di Maria.
Drifting in from the right, Di Maria curled a left-foot shot around the diving Benaglio to seal the win with just three minutes left in extra time.
Swiss substitute Gelson Fernandes was heartbroken but proud.
“It is cruel to end this way,” he said. “We were absolutely not afraid of our adversary, we wanted to make history. It is a bit difficult to accept.”
Source: Supersport