“Rob, greetings from California,” says Mary Waltz. “Since they knocked out my eagles I should be bitter but I think the Netherlands will win. The psychological pressure to win one for Messi puts too much pressure on his squad to play naturally, they always look tight.”
One last bit of pre-match reading
Match report: Croatia 1-1 Brazil (4-2 pens)
‘Beautifully pulled down by Bergkamp…’
Yes, yes, I realise I’d put 12 players in the Dutch team. To you, dear reader, and especially to Davy Klaassen, I apologise.
Remember when Lautaro Martinez was a Golden Boot contender?
“It may be because I was young at the time and now lack the joy in my heart to be open to new things,” boasts Niall Mullen, “but that 1998 quarter final remains the greatest game of Association Football I have ever seen. Somehow the game itself was bettered by the winning goal which itself was perfectly complemented by Barry Davies’ wonderful commentary.”
If tonight’s game is a stinker, you can always relive that match instead.
Fairytale No2
Fairytale No1
“This isn’t unique; Brazil never met Argentina in a semi-final,” writes Tenaiji. “Yeah, it happened twice 1974 & 1982, both in Brazil’s favour, but they were playing in a group game following the first round.”
Don’t forget the goalless kickfest in 1978 – that was probably the closest to a semi-final, as a win for either team would have left them needing one point in the last game to reach the final.
You could do a Joy of Six of Brazil v Argentina games that didn’t happen because one or the other let the side down. The ultimate, of course, is the 2014 final: Brazil v Messi in the Maracana. Strange to think they haven’t met at any stage of the World Cup since Maradona’s heist in 1990.
This is a great read
Both teams make one change from their second-round games. Steven Bergwijn replaces Davy Klaassen in the Netherlands team, which presumably means Cody Gakpo will drop back to play as the No10.
Lisandro Martinez comes into the Argentina side in place of Papu Gomez. That should mean a switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2, which has jiggered my thesis on Argentina being more Dutch than the Dutch.
Netherlands (3-4-1-2) Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, De Roon, F de Jong, Blind; Gakpo; Depay, Bergwijn.Substitutes: Pasveer, Bijlow, De Ligt, De Vrij, L de Jong, Berghuis, Lang, Klaassen, Malacia, Janssen, Weghorst, Koopmeiners, Taylor, Simons, Frimpong.
Argentina (3-5-2) E Martinez; Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez; Molina, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Acuna; Messi, Alvarez.Substitutes: Armani, Rulli, Foyth, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Di Maria, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Guido, Dybala, Lautaro Martinez.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Och my days. Rodrygo and Marquinhos failed to score, and Croatia – just as in 2018 – have won back-to-back penalty competitions to reach the semi-finals.
Croatia v Brazil has gone the distance. Join Scott Murray this instant.
Argentina: the story so far
Saudi Arabia 1-2
Mexico 2-0
Poland 2-0
Australia 2-1
Netherlands: the story so far
Senegal 2-0
Ecuador 1-1
Qatar 2-0
USA 3-1
Netherlands v Argentina is a classic World Cup fixture: 1974, 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and now 2022. Luke McLaughlin has taken a trip down memory lane, just for you.
The winners of this game will play… actually we still don’t know, because Croatia have just equalised in the 117th minute! Join Scott Murray for the denouement.
This World Cup ain’t big enough for both fairtytales. For reasons that would be intelligence-insulting to explain, it will be a tremendous story if either Louis van Gaal or Lionel Messi win the World Cup. But one of them has to leave the competition tonight.
Netherlands v Argentina is such a tough game to call. Both have looked good at times, particularly when scoring silky team goals against the USA and Poland respectively. But at others – especially against Ecuador and Saudi Arabia – they’ve looked a level below the big boys.
Neither team has played an elite opponent yet, so we’re still not sure how good they are, or how realistic it is to speculate that Van Gaal or Messi will win the World Cup. Over the next two hours – don’t be surprised if it’s three – we might find out.
Kick off 7pm GMT, 10pm in Qatar, 8pm in Amsterdam, 4pm in Buenos Aires
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