FIFA World Cup: Messi leads Argentina into semifinals, beats Netherlands on penalties
Lusail(AP/PTI): Lionel Messi's quest to win the World Cup moves into the semifinals after Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout on Friday.
Messi converted his penalty in the shootout and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Mart nez saved two attempts. Lautaro Martinez scored the clinching penalty.
The match finished 2-2 after extra time, with Messi scoring one goal and setting up another. The Netherlands equalized in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.
Argentina will play Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday after the 2018 runner-up beat Brazil earlier on Friday.
It is only the second time Argentina has reached the last four since 1990. In 2014, Messi was part of the team that lost to Germany in the final.
He looks in the mood to get there again in a tournament that he is turning into his own personal highlight reel.
When Lautaro Martinez's penalty hit the net, Messi didn't head to the striker unlike the rest of the team but sprinted to his goalkeeper and jumped into his arms.
Messi had produced a mesmerizing piece of skill to set up the opening goal for Nahuel Molina in the 35th minute and then converted a penalty in the 73rd to make it 2-0 with his fourth goal of this year's World Cup.
It took him to 10 goals in the World Cup, tied with Gabriel Batistuta for the most for Argentina, and 94 goals in total in his 169 international games.
The game was taken to extra time after a goal deep in second-half stoppage time by Wout Weghorst, who entered as a substitute in the 78th and made it 2-1 five minutes later.
It was the latest second-half goal scored in a knockout-stage game at a World Cup and was cleverly worked, with Teun Koopmeiners feinting to curl a free kick into the area only to play it short and deceive the Argentine defense. Weghorst took a touch, held off his marker and slotted home a finish on the stretch.
Thed game featured 17 yellow cards, including one for Messi, who had blood coming from his upper lip at one stage.
Enzo Fernandes hit the post near the end of extra time and was the only Argentina player to fail to score in the shootout.
The loss ended 71-year-old Louis van Gaal's third stint in charge of the Netherlands.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
