Хулиан Альваресийн гайхалтай гоол болон шүүгчийн маргаантай шийдвэр Аргентиныг хагас шигшээд хүргэлээ.
Тоглолтын 10 дахь минутад Лионель Мессигийн булангийн цохилтоос ирсэн дамжуулалтыг Алексис Мак Аллистер мөргөн гоолдож, Аргентиныг тэргүүлүүлсэн. Гэвч Швейцар хоёрдугаар хагаст Дан Ндойегийн гоолоор тооны харьцааг тэнцүүлж, тоглолтын явцад илүүрхэж эхэлсэн юм. Мессигийн хувьд энэ удаагийн тоглолтод гоол оруулж чадаагүй ч түүний багийнхан хүнд үед тусламж үзүүлж чадлаа.
Тоглолтын 72 дахь минутад маргаантай үйл явдал өрнөж, шүүгч Леандро Паредест шар хуудас өгсөн ч VAR-ын тусламжтайгаар Бреел Эмбологийг “дүр эсгэсэн” хэмээн үзэж, түүнд улаан хуудас өгсөн нь Швейцарыг хүн дутуу үлдээв. Энэхүү шийдвэр тоглолтын эргэлтийн цэг болсон бөгөөд нэмэлт цагийн 112 дахь минутад Хулиан Альварес торгуулийн талбайн гаднаас гайхалтай цохилтоор бөмбөгийг хаалганы дээд буланд байрлуулж, Лаутаро Мартинез тоглолтын төгсгөлд гурав дахь гоолыг оруулснаар Аргентин 3:1-ээр хожлоо.
Аргентин ирэх лхагва гарагт Английн эсрэг хагас шигшээд хүч үзэхээр болов. Швейцарын эсрэг тоглолтод Аргентины хамгаалалт сул талуудаа харуулсан нь Английн багт боломж олгож болох ч дэлхийн аваргуудын бүрэлдэхүүнд Месси байгаа нь өрсөлдөгчдийн хувьд хамгийн том аюул хэвээр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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Lionel Messi and Argentina are in the World Cup semi-finals — but, once again, not without controversy.
A breathtaking goal from Julian Alvarez in the 112th minute, curled into the top corner from just outside the penalty area, and a late third from Lautaro Martinez ended Switzerland’s resistance to seal a 3-1 win and set up a mouthwatering semi-final against old enemy England on Wednesday.
But a bizarre sending-off for Switzerland’s Breel Embolo, moments after Dan Ndoye had cancelled outAlexis Mac Allister’s opener, was the main talking point. Embolo was dismissed after a VAR review for ‘mistaken identity’, with footage proving he dived after a challenge from Leandro Paredes.
Here, Adam Crafton, Thom Harris and Stuart James analyse the major talking points.
How did Alvarez upstage Messi?
For the first time in this World Cup, Lionel Messi failed to score on a night when he was upstaged by Julian Alvarez. The Atletico Madrid striker filed a contender for goal of the tournament, with a stunning curling strike in extra-time, to set up a semi-final against England on Wednesday.
About time Messi had some help from his team-mates, you might say.
Julian Alvarez’s shot bends past Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
A long evening had started off in serene fashion for Messi and Argentina. With less than 10 minutes on the clock, Messi delivered an outswinging corner from the left that Alexis Mac Allister glanced into the far corner. So far so good.
It was Messi’s 10th World Cup assist and, curiously, each has been for a different goalscorer, going right back to when he made his debut on this stage against Serbia & Montenegro in 2006 – Hernan Crespo was the beneficiary that day. Carlos Tevez, Angel di Maria, Gabriel Mercado, Sergio Aguero, Enzo Fernandez, Nahuel Molina, Alvarez, Cristian Romero and now Mac Allister have all scored after being set up by Messi since.
But that breakthrough wasn’t a sign of things to come. Unable to play with any fluency, Argentina toiled and Messi was peripheral. It wasn’t until Switzerland were reduced to 10 men that he started to have any sort of influence on the game and even then things didn’t quite click — an attempted lob was slightly underhit and a right-footed shot flashed narrowly wide.
Perhaps Messi was trying too hard. Or maybe — and more likely — it was simply asking too much from a 39-year-old who completed 120 minutes of knockout football eight days ago, another 90 minutes on Tuesday and 120 minutes again here, to carry Argentina yet again.
Either way, his World Cup dream lives on.
Stuart James
What happened with Embolo’s bizarre red card?
In the 72nd minute, Switzerland were in the ascendency against the world champions. They had equalised five minutes prior through Dan Ndoye and an exit appeared eminently possible for Argentina. Then came one of the most extraordinary moments of the tournament.
At first glance, it appeared that Leandro Paredes had cleaned out Breel Embolo and the Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro pulled out a yellow card for the Argentinian.
Then, the VAR team in Dallas intervened. They looked at multiple replays, which appeared to show there had not been any contact and Embolo had thrown himself to the ground.
Given the location, far from goal and near the touchline, there did not appear to be an obvious advantage to be gained. It may have been that, with Paredes approaching at speed, Embolo anticipated contact that didn’t come and fell over. Regardless, it is hard to argue Embolo did not dive.
The VAR recommended that Pinheiro review the incident. As the images played out, it emerged they were studying the replays for “mistaken identity” — i.e. that the wrong player had received a yellow card.
Ordinarily, fans would presume mistaken identity would apply if the yellow card had been incorrectly shown to a player other than Paredes. But FIFA appears to be taking a liberal interpretation of this phrase.
On review, the official withdrew the booking for Paredes and showed one instead to Embolo. Given he had been booked in the first half (for fouling Paredes, ironically), that meant a red.
Guidance from FIFA does not limit match officials to interpreting the ‘mistaken identity’ rule to players of the same team. The rules says that “if the referee penalises an offence but has clearly misidentified the player who committed that offence, only the identity of the attacker can be reviewed”.
Under rules brought in for the World Cup, the reviewable decisions and incidents now include mistaken identity when the referee shows a yellow or red card but clearly penalises the wrong player of either team. As such, Pinheiro was correct in reversing his original decision, leaving Embolo in tears and in need of consoling by team-mates.
Embolo is distraught after being sent off (Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
The irony here is that if the referee had not shown a yellow card to Paredes, the incident could not have been reviewed on the merits of Embolo’s dive alone. It required a card to be shown to Paredes in order to trigger the protocol.
Adam Crafton
Who is favourite for England-Argentina semi-final?
It’s 21 years since England have faced Argentina, back in the days when Michael Owen was leading the line alongside a teenager called Wayne Rooney and England prevailed 3-2 in a friendly played in Geneva. As for Lionel Messi, he was nowhere to be seen that day — suspended after being sent off on his Argentina debut a few months earlier. Messi, in other words, will be facing England for the first time.
It promises to be a fascinating and compelling tie, not least because of the ferocity of the rivalry, which is deep-rooted and transcends football. At the time of writing, the cheapest tickets in Atlanta are going for $3,000.
Naturally, minds will go back to 1986, when Argentina beat England 2-1 and Diego Maradona scored arguably the greatest World Cup goal of all-time. As for Maradona’s other goal, it’s fair to say that VAR would have had something to say about that now.
The two World Cup matches between England and Argentina since have been incredibly tight. Argentina triumphed on penalties in 1998, after David Beckham was sent off, and England won via a penalty in 2002, when Beckham went some way to atoning for what happened four years earlier by converting from the spot.
Alexis Mac Allister celebrates with Lionel Messi (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
As for the here and now, England will take encouragement from Switzerland’s performance against Argentina. The Swiss caused the World Cup holders plenty of problems, so much so that it felt as though Dan Ndoye’s second-half equaliser was coming. Indeed, Switzerland frequently got in behind Argentina’s defence — a measure of the lack of control that Lionel Scaloni’s team had in midfield. Even with an extra man, following Breel Embolo’s red card, Argentina were far from convincing.
That said, there’s always Messi — and that alone will make England anxious.
Stuart James
Are Argentina too defensively frail to win this tournament?
Before Embolo’s dramatic dismissal, Argentina were not exactly pressing home their one-goal advantage. If anything, Lionel Scaloni’s side sank into a more passive shape in the second half, outshot six to two before the red card.
Switzerland deserved their goal, the culmination of a strong spell in which they controlled possession and found line-breaking passes into midfield with relative ease. Argentina were aggressive once Messi and Alvarez were bypassed, but quick passes out wide to Ndoye or into Embolo gave the Swiss a reliable route towards the penalty area.
It was a one-two involving Ndoye that led to the equaliser, as the winger was found in plenty of space on the touchline with defenders slow to engage. Rodrigo De Paul was caught ball-watching as Ricardo Rodriguez offered himself for the pass, trudging back into a shape and letting the run slip through.
Dan Ndoye slides home Switzerland’s equaliser (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
None of Argentina’s knockout games have been straightforward. While there is undeniable star power, and an unerring ability to get the job done, England will have opportunities to make a mark of their own.
Thom Harris
How did Mac Allister outjump the Swiss defence to score?
No team have scored more than Argentina’s five set-piece goals so far at this World Cup, but few would have predicted Alexis Mac Allister (5ft 9ins; 175cms) to open the scoring with an expertly-taken header.
Messi’s outswinging corner was typically on the money, dipping and swerving deliciously over the first man and into a dangerous pocket of space. But how was Mac Allister, over four inches smaller than his closest marker Breel Embolo, able to get to the ball first?
The answer likely lies in Switzerland’s zonal marking system. They set up with four players guarding the six-yard line, with a fifth on the front post. While such an approach usually gives you a numerical advantage close to goal, with plenty of players able to make last-ditch clearances, it can leave defenders ball-watching if the delivery is right.
MacAllister’s movement is well-timed, emerging from Embolo’s blindside at the right moment to nip in front.
With that extra bit of momentum, he catches his marker flat-footed and gets ahead of him to meet the cross.
He uses the pace on the ball to direct his header neatly into the far corner.
Thom Harris
