WC-MOTD21-P1
Day 21: Part 1:-
Argentina vs. Belgium:-
Inexperience takes a heavy toll as Argentina glide past Belgium onto their first WC semi-final in 24 years!
Coach Alejandro Sabella slightly changed his tactical set-up in comparison to previous games; opting for a 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 formation, where Di Maria and Lavezzi played out wide, and Messi served almost as an attacking midfielder, or a support striker if you will.
He also deployed Lucas Biglia alongside Mascherano as he looked to inject more dynamism into Argentina’s midfield play; an element which Gago was not able to provide in this competition so far.
For Belgium, Coach Marc Wilmots stuck with the same formation and tactical outlay he used in the round of 16 tie against Team USA; favoring speed, once more, over physicality in the final third.
Argentina began the game by dominating possession and passing their way into Belgium’s own half, with the match still not adapting a specific and constant rhythm yet.
Moments later, Kompany made a rather uncharacteristic mistake when he lost possession in the middle of the pitch, and play was quickly transformed as Messi played Di María forward, who then looked to send a through ball to Zabaleta down the right flank.
However, the pass took a deflection and landed midway through the air in front of Higuaín, and the Napoli forward sent a shot dripping with a striker’s instinct for a 1-0 Argentinean lead!
Belgium attempted to respond quickly by going on the offense shortly afterwards; however, they were lacking accuracy in their passes which lead to them losing possession too often.
For all the counter-attacking possibilities (time and space-wise) that Argentina had every time they retained possession deep in their own half, they opted for a rather slow build-up from the back, devoid of any real urgency, and looked to keep a solid and compact defensive form on display.
The Belgians were playing with practically 10 men inside Argentina’s half as they pressed higher up the pitch looking for that equalizer; but it was just not good enough as they were unable to do anything particularly creative or threatening with the ball to break Argentina’s defense apart.
It was a somewhat tactical first half from Argentina’s point of view; but the game, as a whole, did not have much tempo in it.
Argentina played very compact and deep at the back and were fairly well organized as they limited Belgium to almost zero real chances on goal. In attack, they relied on a bizarre possession-based counter-attacking strategy as they got themselves into spaces early following several breaks, but chose to slowly pass their way into the box instead of continuing the forward momentum directly.
Belgium were poor as a team on so many levels, they lacked a clear identity all over the pitch, creativity in midfield (Hazard and De Bruyne practically asleep) and a real urgency in attack. They were also missing some real physical presence in the box as Origi was drifting out wide way too much!
The second half began with neither side pressing properly nor playing with any real flair or urgency going forward.
The Belgians were not even able to create one single offensive move in the first quarter of an hour after the break, while Argentina squandered a few chances on goal as they showed some ineffectiveness up front.
Coach Wilmots’ decision to bring on Lukaku (for physicality) and Mertens (for dynamism and more aerial play from out wide) did not have the desired effect on Belgium’s play as quickly as he might have wanted. They were unable to hold onto possession for long enough to create something from midfield.
Meanwhile, Argentina were attacking with too much width and were not getting into central positions enough as they somehow seemed content with the 1-0 lead.
The game saw some very, very late FLASHES of urgency and attacking prowess from the Belgians in the dying minutes; but it was just a continuation of their miserable afternoon rather than a re-discovered element of vigor.
In summation, the match was very uneventful from many aspects. Argentina defended fairly well but barely showed any genuine interest in really taking the game to their opponents by creating dangerous chances from open play. They were a tad wasteful in front of goal; but, overall, it was an efficient display of football (and that's putting it in the nicest way possible!).
The Belgians had extreme difficulties initiating attacks from the back; as De Bruyne and Hazard were utterly silented by Argentina. The team lacked passing precision in vital areas of the pitch, shifted play out wide too often and enforced the obvious tactic of focusing on aerial balls way too late.
All in all, one cannot say that it has been such a bad tournament for this very young and talented Belgium team; but their lack of experience at such a big stage eventually proved to be their undoing!
Man of the match: Take your pick:-
Lionel Messi: He put in a mature performance as he contributed all over the pitch.
Javier Mascherano: Did a good job canceling-out Hazard and De Bruyne in midfield.
Argentina vs. Belgium:-
Inexperience takes a heavy toll as Argentina glide past Belgium onto their first WC semi-final in 24 years!
Coach Alejandro Sabella slightly changed his tactical set-up in comparison to previous games; opting for a 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 formation, where Di Maria and Lavezzi played out wide, and Messi served almost as an attacking midfielder, or a support striker if you will.
He also deployed Lucas Biglia alongside Mascherano as he looked to inject more dynamism into Argentina’s midfield play; an element which Gago was not able to provide in this competition so far.
For Belgium, Coach Marc Wilmots stuck with the same formation and tactical outlay he used in the round of 16 tie against Team USA; favoring speed, once more, over physicality in the final third.
Argentina began the game by dominating possession and passing their way into Belgium’s own half, with the match still not adapting a specific and constant rhythm yet.
Moments later, Kompany made a rather uncharacteristic mistake when he lost possession in the middle of the pitch, and play was quickly transformed as Messi played Di María forward, who then looked to send a through ball to Zabaleta down the right flank.
However, the pass took a deflection and landed midway through the air in front of Higuaín, and the Napoli forward sent a shot dripping with a striker’s instinct for a 1-0 Argentinean lead!
Belgium attempted to respond quickly by going on the offense shortly afterwards; however, they were lacking accuracy in their passes which lead to them losing possession too often.
For all the counter-attacking possibilities (time and space-wise) that Argentina had every time they retained possession deep in their own half, they opted for a rather slow build-up from the back, devoid of any real urgency, and looked to keep a solid and compact defensive form on display.
The Belgians were playing with practically 10 men inside Argentina’s half as they pressed higher up the pitch looking for that equalizer; but it was just not good enough as they were unable to do anything particularly creative or threatening with the ball to break Argentina’s defense apart.
It was a somewhat tactical first half from Argentina’s point of view; but the game, as a whole, did not have much tempo in it.
Argentina played very compact and deep at the back and were fairly well organized as they limited Belgium to almost zero real chances on goal. In attack, they relied on a bizarre possession-based counter-attacking strategy as they got themselves into spaces early following several breaks, but chose to slowly pass their way into the box instead of continuing the forward momentum directly.
Belgium were poor as a team on so many levels, they lacked a clear identity all over the pitch, creativity in midfield (Hazard and De Bruyne practically asleep) and a real urgency in attack. They were also missing some real physical presence in the box as Origi was drifting out wide way too much!
The second half began with neither side pressing properly nor playing with any real flair or urgency going forward.
The Belgians were not even able to create one single offensive move in the first quarter of an hour after the break, while Argentina squandered a few chances on goal as they showed some ineffectiveness up front.
Coach Wilmots’ decision to bring on Lukaku (for physicality) and Mertens (for dynamism and more aerial play from out wide) did not have the desired effect on Belgium’s play as quickly as he might have wanted. They were unable to hold onto possession for long enough to create something from midfield.
Meanwhile, Argentina were attacking with too much width and were not getting into central positions enough as they somehow seemed content with the 1-0 lead.
The game saw some very, very late FLASHES of urgency and attacking prowess from the Belgians in the dying minutes; but it was just a continuation of their miserable afternoon rather than a re-discovered element of vigor.
In summation, the match was very uneventful from many aspects. Argentina defended fairly well but barely showed any genuine interest in really taking the game to their opponents by creating dangerous chances from open play. They were a tad wasteful in front of goal; but, overall, it was an efficient display of football (and that's putting it in the nicest way possible!).
The Belgians had extreme difficulties initiating attacks from the back; as De Bruyne and Hazard were utterly silented by Argentina. The team lacked passing precision in vital areas of the pitch, shifted play out wide too often and enforced the obvious tactic of focusing on aerial balls way too late.
All in all, one cannot say that it has been such a bad tournament for this very young and talented Belgium team; but their lack of experience at such a big stage eventually proved to be their undoing!
Man of the match: Take your pick:-
Lionel Messi: He put in a mature performance as he contributed all over the pitch.
Javier Mascherano: Did a good job canceling-out Hazard and De Bruyne in midfield.
Ahmad Al-Omar - 5. Jul, 23:54
