Australia fans in (Sydney/Melbourne) witnessed their heroes bow out of the Qatar World Cup on Sunday (Australia time) after the Socceroos were beaten 2-1 by Argentina at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.
Lionel Messi produced another masterclass in his 1000th career game, dictating play and opening the scoring in the 35th minute with his ninth goal at a World Cup, taking him clear of another Argentina legend, Diego Maradona in the all-time list, although it was his first goal in the knockout phase.
A goalkeeping error from Mathew Ryan allowed Argentina to double their lead after an hour, but rather than buckling, Australia put up a stirring fightback in the closing stages.
Craig Goodwin’s 77th minute shot deflected into the net off Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez to halve the deficit and Aziz Behich produced a Messi-like run into the penalty area, only to be thwarted by a last ditch block from Lisandro Martinez.
Then, in the dying moments, Australia very nearly forced extra time.
A shooting chance opened up for Garang Kuol, but his effort was smothered by Emiliano Martinez and as he clung on to the ball, two Argentina players fell on top of their goalkeeper in relief as much as happiness.
Australia were denied, but cannot realistically argue that Argentina were not the better side.
Messi and his teammates march on to the quarter-finals where they will take on the Netherlands, who beat USA 3-1 earlier in the day.
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