World Cup Rematch Argentina 1 0 Switzerland AET 2014 Last 16

Will it be Argentina or Switzerland staying on for the quarterfinals? The South Americans heavily fancied after winning their group with 9 points out of 9 without ever producing their very best, but Lionel Messi boasting arguably the greatest player on the planet right now and for some the best of all time. Switzerland will have to knife by him and look to their own left-footed star Jadon Shaqiri to steer them into the quarterfinal stages for the first time since 1954. Eight ever presence in the Argentina side, including goalkeeper Romano Garay, won the Portuguese league with Benfica, Zabaleta the English title with City, Fernando Gargo the only player that plays in the domestic league with Boca Juniors, Lionel Messi the man everybody's talking about, four goals in the competition already, their other goalscorer, their left-back, Marcus Rocco. The one change, Agüero's injury, means Levetsi makes his first start of the competition. Switzerland sticks the team that ended their group campaign in style with a 3-0 win over Honduras, Bernalio, Lichtsteiner and Inle all played at the last World Cup finals, Xhaka won the Under-17 World Cup in 2009, as did number 13, Ricardo Rodriguez. Amedi scored in the 2-1 win group win over Ecuador, Dermic again preferred up front to Safarovic, Xha gets the nod over Sendros in defence, Shaqiri their hat-trick hero against Honduras. Quickly taken, Messi away from Ben Ami, closed down by Shah but he's away from him too, looking for Igoi, Dermic was by Lichtsteiner, Di Maria, been hassled by Mamadi, free kick, means he gets so tight Switzerland, Di Maria, caught on the ankle, Messi with the free kick, previous two set-pieces have been dealt with well, by Johan Giroud, Messi over this latest one, he'll be back for Switzerland. Holt-Gol wants to put over the crossbar, Lichtsteiner, can he pick the pass? Yes, he can, he's found Shaqiri, Shaqiri in turn has found Mahadi. Pressure still on, Lichtsteiner! Ronaldo again required. Comfortable stop, but the first genuine attempt at goal in this round of 16 contest in Sao Paulo surprisingly comes from Switzerland. Ami, loose with his clearance, collected by Lovetzi. Dario, Messi, Di Maria to his right, Prencin red-back, Di Maria, initially by Mamadi, Real will try again, Lovetzi goes up for the header, up goes Giroud, Lovetzi! Dario makes his first save with 28 minutes on the clock. Di Maria, in infirmary, and there goes Kroos! All it needed was the slightest of touches, and Garay couldn't provide it. What a brilliant corner that is. Begging for a touch, Garay was a fraction away. Fall of Lovetzi, free from Ben Ami, into the penalty area, Lichtsteiner has to be careful, one step sharp, corners personified, good pass to Dermic, the quick release for Shaqiri, who's looking for Dermic, Dermic onside, only Romero to beat! Oh dear. What an opportunity for Switzerland. Josip Dermic, fluffing his lines horribly. Had it come off it would have been a fantastic finish. It's a let-off all right, that's for sure. Whistles around the stadium, plenty of Brazilians in the stadium of course, and their support definitely behind the team in red. Messi. Foul by Ben Ami, but Playence has the referee, Messi looking for Higuain, Messi still tries, here's Di Maria! Salah letter, Di Maria, starting the second half on the right-hand side of the midfield, looking for Messi, and Fanning with a pinch of the pass, to his left, Lovetzi, Higuain waits in the centre, Lovetzi defending from Johan Giroud. Kicking himself in glory, on the first half, no better interception than that though. Poured in the shape of Lichtsteiner. This time the whistle does go, Mascherano penalised, targets in red to aim for. Here he does go for goal, and Romero just gets a cross in time, and he's spilt it, oh the clubs on it. Greasy ball, Sergio Romero here, to his eye of it, in there, to his left, just trying to time his running, he has done, he's forced wide though, he's onside, needs to cut it back here for Dermich! He's taken up a good position again here, Josip Dermich, fails to find a shot, worthy of the situation. Messi, Di Maria to his right, Messi instead turns left for Lovetzi, now Rokos, Bernalio lost it, and cooked away by Shah, and he's Shakir it out for Switzerland, only Dermich ahead of him, but he's looking to find it, caught by Fernandes, Mascherano, Lovetz, gone Lichtsteiner, here's this earlier drive, firmly struck by Rokos, can't quite tell from that angle, but from behind it, where I was, it's moved, quite strongly, Lovetz's corner, headed away by Shah, Messi down for Gargol, now Di Maria, Rodriguez to beat, and he's away from him for once. Spectacular, had that come off, and here's this fancy little footwork from Di Maria, and now Garay, to Puklos, good header too, fine save Bernalio, the closest to an Argentine goal. Perfect cross, just the touch that the striker was looking for, Messi, so Lovetz has made a run, his cross is a good one, Higuain didn't make the contact he needed to, Di Maria, Roko, better from Argentina, cleared down as far as Messi, and it's his first striker goal, the man who's scored a goal in all of Argentina's games so far here in Brazil. For once he wasn't closed down quickly enough, for once he couldn't get the dip in that shot he was looking for, and now in there, Pirami, Mendes, through for Dermic, really strong work from the left back, you can see Dermic has got hold of Roko's shorts, but Roko was not going to let him get clear, in by Messi, flicked away rather than headed away, they have cleared their penalty area, Messi climbs well, to get the better of Shaqiri, Messi, it's a lovely centre, and it's headed wide, Palacio I think, in his first involvement, and his first touch almost brought the first goal, Drago, Giroud to clear it, in step Zabaleta, Roko to keep it in, goes cross, out this time only as far as Messi, he's got the shooting angle, Messi, good save for Dalio, and Switzerland just about do enough to clear their lines, corner given, Switzerland feel there should be a free kick, because Messi caught Lichteiner late, in the six yard box, crucial save, by Diego, Dalio though, from Lionel Messi, to keep us at nil-nil, Messi's drive was low, Dalio was brave, this is a better angle for this, through the legs of Lichteiner, and as the defender tried to clear it, and fighting for this, Dalio was brave, that's how he took it, clattering from Palacio, nervous Argentine fans all around the stadium, and there's delivery, it's good, but the header isn't from Schaer, over the bar, Romero not needed on this occasion, Fabian Schaer was actually Switzerland's top scorer in the qualifying stage, didn't take much, into trouble for the first time in the second half, but we will have an extra 30 minutes, after 90 minutes, of the Arena Corinthians, it's finished nil-nil, Switzerland have managed to keep Lionel Messi pretty quiet, throughout a couple of efforts in that second period, one just over one, brilliantly kept out by Bernalio, but Switzerland are hanging on in there, and Argentina, are struggling to break them down, and for the fourth time, in the round of 16, at these World Cup finals, we go into extra time, Dalio walks away, and Messi who takes, a penalty for Swiss, I don't think, it's to make a save, Messi again, it is Di Maria, Mourin Zabaleta, good shot, fine save Bernalio, that was firmly struck by Angel Di Maria, a full stretch to turn it over, Alessio is away from him, and he's found Messi, and Messi's away, Lionel Messi for Argentina, real chance, and it's a goal, by Switzerland, lost it on the halfway line, Argentina have punished them, it was in sky blue and white, all around the stadium, and in that corner of the pitch, here's where they lost it Switzerland, Lichtsteiner trying to be too casual, and suddenly Argentina sprung into action, Messi had options to his right, Di Maria took it early, and swept it beyond Bernalio, and Argentina now surely, are safely through to the quarter finals, Messi was after this moment, a bit of space to run into, he picked the time to release the pass, and Di Maria does the rest, Swiss resistance, broken, heartbreakingly close, to a penalty shootout, is there yet more drama to come? Flipped away, Shaqiri will keep it in, goalkeeper will stay in the mix, it's a great cross, how did that stay out? Romero knew nothing about the initial header, and then he cannons on Schiavone, and he's behind for a goal kick, what an escape for Argentina this is, the header against the post, not the goalkeeper, and Schiavone, couldn't steer the rebound, into an empty goal, that's how close Switzerland were, to forcing a penalty shootout, surely it's all over now though, Switzerland try again, in there, lifts it in again, it's headed away, it's going to come out as far as Bernalio, Bernalio still fighting, Argentina clear their lines, first to it, Ricardo Rodriguez, suddenly so much excitement, in this extra time, up go the heads, Argentina clear their lines, and there's an empty goal, if Di Maria can go for it, and he has, and he's just cleared it, but it doesn't matter too much, the ball is where Argentina want it to be, behind the Swiss goal, Giroud's not even looking, Safarevic, he's gone for the return, 10 seconds remain, Safarevic, here's Shaqiri, here's a chance, Shaqiri goes down, free kick, with a challenge, it was opening up there, for Shaqiri, Neith is in the technical area, we've got shenanigans too, here's the challenge by Giroud, Shaqiri, for Switzerland, this for a penalty shootout, the wall does its job, the referee blows, and Argentina are through to the quarter finals, it's heartbreak for the Swiss, whose game plan so nearly did the trick, they were 2 minutes away, from a penalty shootout, but Angel Di Maria, with the vital goal, 2 minutes from time, has taken Argentina through,