Argentina overcomes late drama to defeat the Netherlands on penalties, Book Semi-final Date With Croatia

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was Argentina's hero in the shootout, saving two spot-kicks as they won 4-3 on penalties.

In a night of intense World Cup drama, Argentina defeated the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties after a dramatic 2-2 extra-time draw. Argentina will now play Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals.

Emiliano Martinez, the goalkeeper for Argentina, saved the team's bacon in the penalty shootout after Lionel Messi had put the South Americans on the verge of the semifinals with a two-goal advantage in the last minutes of regulation.

The Netherlands rallied with seven minutes left in regulation time to force extra time thanks to two dramatic goals from Wout Weghorst, the second coming from a free-kick that was surprisingly creative.

Messi's superb assist for Nahuel Molina and his precise penalty goal put Argentina in position to advance to the round of four.

Argentina prevailed to maintain interest in the sport in South America just hours after Brazil and Neymar were eliminated from the tournament by the Croats on penalties.

At least 75 percent of the 88,235 spectators at the Lusail Stadium supported Argentina, with very few people wearing orange jerseys. Argentina felt at home there.

However, everyone was treated to a riveting late-night drama that ended just before 1 a.m. local time.

After a tentative beginning, Messi displayed a flash of genius ten minutes before the half to score his team's opening goal.

He broke open the Dutch defence with a brilliant reverse ball between Daley Blind and Virgil van Dijk into the path of Nahuel Molina, who timed his run perfectly and finished with the outside of his foot. He gave no indications of his intentions.

In response, Dutch manager Luis van Gaal made two substitutions at halftime, inserting Teun Koopmeiners and Steven Berghuis into the midfield in place of Bergwijn and Marten De Roon.

The Dutch saw a lot of the ball, but their style remained too formulaic and careless.

Free-kick expertise
The Argentines had the advantage of momentum, therefore it came as no surprise when they increased their lead in the 73rd minute after Denzel Dumphries fouled Marcos Acuna in the penalty area and Messi converted the penalty kick perfectly by placing the ball in the corner.

However, the Dutch were not going to lose the game without a fight, and Weghorst scored a goal seven minutes from time off of a deep ball from Berghuis.

With a handful of large-scale altercations over the extra ten minutes, the Dutch upped their expectations and tempers, put Van Dijk up forward, and threw balls into the box.

One of those high balls resulted in a free kick right outside the box deep into the extra time.

To everyone's amazement, Weghorst received a short pass from Koopmeiners instead of the anticipated shot he had pretended to take. Weghorst then manoeuvred around Enzo Fernandez to score the equaliser.

After the raucous celebrations were ended, the game entered extra time and oddly fell silent. It didn't get up again until late in the second session.

Van Djik diverted a strong goal-bound attempt from Lautaro Martinez, and subsequently Fernandez's deflected shot narrowly missed the crossbar.

Then, Lautaro forced Noppert to make a diving save, Messi missed the target, and only the post stopped Fernandez's long-range strike.

After that, there were consequences.

First up was Van Dijk, and Martinez dived to his right to make the stop. Before Martinez again saved from Berghuis, Messi followed and did not make a mistake.

This time, Argentina hung on to win the shoot-out and go to the semi-finals despite Fernandez's miss. There was no way back for the Dutch.