Day of shootouts in WC: Argentina in semi-finals, heartbreak for Brazil

It was a day of mixed emotions for the South American sporting powerhouses, with Brazil going home and Argentina moving to the semi-finals — both games were decided in penalty shoot-outs.

Lionel Messi’s quest to win the World Cup moves into the semifinals after Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout on Friday.

Messi converted his penalty in the shootout and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved two attempts. Lautaro Martinez scored the clinching penalty.

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The match finished 2-2 after extra time, with Messi scoring one goal and setting up another.

The Netherlands equalized in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.
Argentina will play Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday.

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Croatia stuns Brazil

Five-time Brazil was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Friday night (December 9) after losing to Croatia in the quarterfinals.

Croatia, the 2018 finalist, stunned the South American side 4-2 on penalties at the Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

After it was 0-0 in the stipulated 90 minutes, the match went into extra time where Neymar put Brazil ahead in the stoppage time (105+1) of the first half. With that goal, Neymar tied with Pele as Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer with 77 goals.

Neymar’s incredible strike looked to have sealed the contest but Croatia equalised in the 117th minute with Bruno Petkovic.

In the penalty shootout, Croatia scored all its four spot kicks while Brazil failed in two as goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was once again the hero stopping the first kick from Rodrygo. Later, Marquinhos hit the post giving Croatia the victory.

(Agencies)