Argentina Tembus Semi Final setelah Tekuk Belgia 1-0
Argentina Reach World Cup Semi-finals with 1-0 Win over Belgium
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Jakarta (B2B) - Argentina berhasil mengalahkan Belgia 1-0 sekaligus memastikan melaju ke partai semi final dalam laga perempat final Piala Dunia 2014 di Estadio Nacional Brasilia, Brasil, Minggu pagi WIB.
Lawan Argentina pada semi final nanti akan ditentukan dalam laga perempat final lainnya antara Belanda melawan Kosta Rika di Salvador, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
Kemenangan Argentina didapatkan lewat gol semata wayang yang dicetak oleh Gonzalo Higuain pada menit-menit awal laga, tepatnya pada menit delapan, yang juga menjadi gol pertama penyerang Real Madrid itu di Brasil.
Argentina sejak awal mengambil inisiatif serangan, sayang upaya mereka pada menit dua saat Ezequiel Lavezzi menusuk dari sayap kiri gagal meneruskan bola kepada Lionel Messi yang berada di tengah kotak penalti Belgia.
Argentina akhirnya memperoleh keunggulan cepat enam menit berselang setelah Higuain menyarangkan bola ke gawang Belgia, yang juga merupakan gol pertamanya di putaran final Piala Dunia 2014.
Proses gol Higuain berawal dari aksi individual Messi di lapangan tengah yang kemudian sukses menyodorkan bola kepada Angel Di Maria di sisi kanan.
Brasilia - Gonzalo Higuain´s first goal of this World Cup sent Argentina into the semifinals on Saturday with a 1-0 win over a disappointing Belgium.
Argentina, which hadn´t advanced past the World Cup quarterfinals since 1990, controlled the match after Higuain´s eighth-minute goal, more due to disciplined defending than sparkling attack.
The Napoli striker fired home Angel Di Maria´s deflected pass just inside the area, beating Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with a low shot to the far corner of the goal as he turned.
Higuain came close to making it 2-0 in the second half when his shot smashed into the crossbar. Lionel Messi missed a chance to score his fifth goal of the tournament when he failed to beat Courtois on a counterattack in stoppage time.
Belgium lacked the creativity to find a way past Argentina´s disciplined defense, and created few clear chances apart from a pair of headers by Kevin Mirallas and Marouane Fellaini.
Belgium´s most creative player, Eden Hazard, had little impact on the game beyond receiving a yellow card for a studs-first challenge on Lucas Biglia. Hazard cut a disconsolate figure as he was substituted by Nacer Chadli in the 75th.
