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Argentina has, according to Lionel Messi, felt Diego Maradona’s presence throughout their World Cup run, including on Friday when they defeated the Netherlands on penalties to advance to the semifinals.
After assisting Nahuel Molina’s opening goal before halftime and adding the second from the penalty spot, Messi appeared to have motivated Argentina into a matchup with Brazil’s victorious Croatia in the round of eight.
However, Argentina conceded twice in stoppage time before goalkeeper Emi Martinez maintained composure to save the first two Dutch penalties and Lautaro Martinez scored the game-winning penalty to advance his team.
“Diego is watching us from heaven. He is pushing us and I really hope this stays the same until the end,” Messi told reporters.
“When Lautaro scored and we qualified there was a huge joy. It was a weight off our chest,” Messi added. “It was a very hard match. From the beginning it was a really tough match, we knew it would be this way.
“We leave that on the pitch with our people. We were really happy and we enjoyed that moment and that’s what we can see here and also in Argentina because people are really happy, they are really excited and they are full of enthusiasm.
“The Dutch team made trouble for us with long balls and a lot of players in the area. In the end they drew and we suffered. But we were able to seal our passage to the semi-finals, which is what we wanted.”
After Croatia, the runners-up in 2018, defeated Brazil on penalties earlier, Argentina will play Croatia for a spot in the championship match.
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