They narrowly edged Switzerland 1-0 on July 1, 2014, to clinch a place in the World Cup quarter finals.
Argentina narrowly edged Switzerland 1-0 yesterday to clinch a spot in the last eight of the world soccer showpiece in Brazil. The encounter predicted to be an easy walk over for Argentina turned out to be an epic battle as Switzerland put up a spirited fight, seriously casting doubts on the chances of the Latin American sailing to the next stage of the competition.
Switzerland against expectations played without any complex and came close to creating history on several occasions in the encounter as the suspense dragged on to prolongation as both sides separated on a zero-all tie after regular time of play.
The breakthrough for the Argentineans came at the 118th minute through Di Maria who benefitted from s setup by Messi to hammer a volley criss-cross the Swiss goalkeeper. A minute later, Switzerland could have equalized had Blerim Dzemali’s header not hit the goalpost, bounced to his leg and then out of the field.
By losing to Argentina, Switzerland missed on an opportunity to put an end to a 60-year draught or yearning for a place in the quarter finals of the world cup. The two-time champion, Argentina therefore qualifies for the quarter finals but without having shown proof of the formidable football side they are reputed to be. They struggled against Iran and laboriously clinch their qualification for the round of eight by a hair’s breadth.
