Netherlands, Argentina move to FIFA WC 2022 Quarters; USA, Australia out

Netherlands, Argentina move to FIFA WC 2022 Quarters; USA, Australia out
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4 December 2022
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The Netherlands and Argentina Saturday moved to FIFA World Cup 2022 Quarters after defeating their rivals USA and Australia in the knockout round.

The Netherlands defeated USA by 3-1 whereas Argentina moved to last 8 after an emphatic 2-1 win over Australia.

Netherlands v USA

Denzel Dumfries did the star act for The Netherlands as he provided two assists and scored a goal against the United States to seal a 3-1 win and a place in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals for his team

On Saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium, the Dutch opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Memphis Depay received the ball from Dumfries and finished off a combined move in which several players had a hand and which started from the defense.

Netherlands take 2-0 lead in 1st half

The U.S. had a bright start to the game but have since been outsmarted by their opponents. They enjoyed more than 60 percent of the ball possession in the first half against a stronger side. However, they failed to make effective use of that possession and were punished for losing the ball too easily.

The U.S. had a bright start to the game but were outsmarted by their opponent and when the U.S. looked close to finding an equaliser, Daley Blind netted Dumfries' low cross to extend the lead for the European side.

The Netherlands thus took a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break.

USA had opportunities, but missed

Overall, the USA have had good spells throughout the tournament, especially for portions of their game in the group match against England. But their big weakness has been the inability to make the most of their opportunities. Most of the time they could not find the goals they needed and it was very much evident on Saturday.

Defensive errors and lack of cutting edge in the final third cost the U.S. and they needed a different performance in the second half to get back into the game. But that was not to be.

Cody Gakpo cleared Tim Ream's header off the line early in the second half to keep the Netherlands' advantage safe but saw his team waste chances to put the game to bed.

As the U.S. kept pressing for some late drama, Haji Wright missed from a tight angle in the 75th, but pulled one back for the U.S. just a minute later, sending home a cross from Christian Pulisic with a stunning looping ball into the far corner.

Their comeback, however, didn't last long as Dumfries got on the scoreboard himself in the 81st minute to wrap up matters.

Argentina v Australia

Argentina v Australia

Argentina survived some anxious moments against Australia to register a fighting 2-1 win over and move into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup.

At the Ahmed Bin Ali on Saturday, Argentina were able to withstand some last minute Australian attacks to move into the quarter-finals.

Australia step up pressure in the last ten minutes of normal time and in injury stoppage time but Argentina survive some key moments to keep their citadel intact and advance into the last eight stage.

Messi scores another goal

Argentina went into the half time break with a 1-0 lead.

Messi put Argentina into the lead in the 35th minute while Julian Alvarez made it 2-0 in the 57th minute.

Australia pulled one back in the 77th minute through an own goal which went of a deflection in the Argentina goal if a left footed effort from Aaron Mody.

The goal came of a setpiece situation. Messi who took control of the free kick bent his left footed try deep which was cleared by defense. The ball did not go far and came back to Messi via two colleagues.

Nicolas Otamendi squaring the ball for Messi inside the box with the striker unleashing a perfect grounded pushing the ball past two Australian defenders and the keeper to make it 1-0 with ten minutes to for the first half whistle.

Second goal for Argentina

The second goal for Argentina happened to be a big blunder from Australian keeper Mathew Ryan who made a mess of the backpass.

With two strikers in hot pursuit Ryan preferred to dribble his way but lost control and Alvarez pouncing on the loose ball to send the ball to the back of the nets.

Australia which came with the ocassional move kept themselves in the match with a goal 13 minutes from the final whistle.

Mody left footed drive directed goalwards found Fernandez on the way as it deflected of the Argentina striker and caught Argentina goalkeeper on the wrong and ended in the back of the nets.

Argentina will now take on The Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

With USA and Australia elimination and with The Netherlands and Argentina qualification to the quarters, the other teams which will vie for a place in the quarter finals are: Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Spain, Morocco, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, England, France, Senegal and Switzerland.

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