WORLD CUP: Higuain take Argentina to semi final

Argentina are through to the semi-finals of the
FIFA World Cup after beating Belgium 1-0 at
the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia on Saturday.
Gonzalo Higuain's eighth-minute strike
proved to be the telling contribution as
Argentina made it through to the World Cup
semi-final stage for the first time since 1990.
They will face the winner of the later game
between the Netherlands and Costa Rica after
becoming the third side to book a semi-final
date, with Germany and Brazil progressing on
Friday.
The lone caveat for Argentina was an injury to
influential midfielder Angel Di Maria that
forced him off in the first half and may yet deny
him a chance to play in the semi-final.
All five of Argentina's victories in the
competition have come via a one-goal margin
and so often it has been Lionel Messi that has
provided the telling contribution.
Indeed, the Barcelona playmaker was
influential throughout for Alejandro Sabella's
side, but it was an instinctive strike from
Napoli striker Higuain that decided the tie.
Messi started off playing deep, seeing plenty
of the ball and creating some good positions
for his team-mates.
One such move put Ezequiel Lavezzi clear on
the right and only Vincent Kompany's alert
intervention prevented a goal.
It took less than eight minutes however for
Argentina to take a huge step towards the
semi-final and it was Messi, twisting and
turning in midfield, who was the architect.
His incisive pass to Di Maria was diverted to
Higuain, taking a nick off a defender which
caused the ball to bounce up for the Napoli
striker to swivel and thump a first-time shot
low into the corner from 25 yards out.
Belgium attempted to make some headway
but Argentina immediately dropped back into
two banks of four whenever they lost
possession and when the Red Devils did get
into good positions, they failed to make use of
them.
Jan Vertonghen put in a stunning cross but
not a single red shirt tried to reach it, and
Argentina cleared it unchallenged.
Kevin de Bruyne nearly surprised Sergio
Romero with a shot with a short back-lift, and
the rebound from the save only just eluded
Divock Origi.
A dream of a pass from Messi sliced through
the Belgian ranks for Di Maria but Kompany
did brilliantly to get back to block him - and
the Real Madrid winger injured himself while
taking the shot and had to be replaced by
Enzo Perez.
Messi was crudely halted when close to
dribbling through a pack of red shirts on the
edge of the Belgium area, and then fizzed the
free-kick over the top.
Belgium's best chance of the first half came
just before the break when another Vertonghen
cross this time found De Bruyne, but his diving
header bounced wide.
The second half was strangely muted given
what was at stake, with Argentina happy to
keep things tight and Belgium failing to make
much impression.
Higuain cut in and drilled in a low effort that
deflected off Daniel van Buyten and past the
near-post with Thibaut Courtois stranded,
then the Lazio striker sped into the Belgium
half, nutmegged Kompany while at full speed,
and fairly belted a shot that smacked the top
of the bar.
Marouane Fellaini, who had spent most of the
match being bypassed by Messi, failed to
make up for it when another Vertonghen cross
picked him out, the Manchester United player
heading over.
Eden Hazard was equally disappointing, his
main contribution being booked for going in
high on Lucas Biglia - on another day it could
have been red - and he was replaced by Nacer
Chadli in the 75th minute.
In a mirror image of Higuain's deflected miss,
De Bruyne had a slow shot deflected just
wide.
In the closing minutes, Marc Wilmots went for
broke by pushing his tallest players, Fellaini
and Van Buyten, up front as extra strikers and
Belgium threw the kitchen sink at Argentina
but the South Americans held out against the
aerial bombardment, with substitute Romelu
Lukaku and Axel Witsel coming closest.
There was time too for Messi to break clear
and sprint in on Courtois. The world waited for
what looked an inevitable goal but Messi's
attempted finish was brilliantly blocked by the
Belgium keeper, even if it mattered not to the
final outcome.