Argentina is set to battle Germany for the World Cup championship this year. The South American team emerged victorious in thanks to a 4-2 win in penalties against the Netherlands after a somewhat lackluster 120 minutes of playtime on the pitch, Daily Mail reported.
All eyes were on Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben, who are expected to lead their teams with their brilliance in the pitch. However, both teams have proven to be each other's match as there has been no important moments in the first half of the game, except for Javier Mascherano's challenge on Georginio Wijnaldum, which failed miserably when he appeared to have taken a nasty blow to the head instead. Mascherano refused to be substituted and soldiered on in the match.
During the halftime break, Holland appeared to have anticipated that the match would end in a penalty shootout, with a sly Twitter user observing Tim Krul practicing his penalties.
In the second half, weak refereeing seemed to be the overall theme of the match officials as they failed to award obvious penalties to infractions. As Martin Demichelis escapes sanction for his strong kick on Wesley Sneijder, there was no card issued against Martins Indi despite charging Messi NFL-style, the British paper said.
Moreover, the Oranje appeared to be not in their element in the match, as they have been offside for record 23 times in the tournament, overtaking Belgium at 22.
Both Robben and Messi decided to become alive in the late in the match. Robben gave the Dutch hope when he touched the ball in the 90th minute, but was thwarted by Mascherano. In the 117th minute, Messi did his trademark burst of energy as he tries to make a goal, but his chipped byline cross to Maxi Rodriguez resulted to a weak volley by the latter straight to Holland's goalkeeper.
Sergio Romero became the hero of the hour when he blocked penalty shots by Ron Vlaar and Sneijder. Rodriguez's penalty goal capped a perfect penalty shootout for Argentina, advancing them into the finals.
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