Messi

Argentina (1-0) Belgium

Belgium’s Game Plan: Stop Messi (UPDATE: Messi & Argentina Win)

By Andrew Palczewski   |


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Lionel Messi: the key to Agentina's success.

UPDATE: The good news for the Belgians is that they kept Argentina’s Lionel Messi from scoring. The bad news is that they didn’t stop Gonzalo Higuain, whose goal just eight minutes into the match was enough for Argentina to win 1-0, and head to the semifinals to play the Netherlands on Wednesday.

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The quarterfinal match between Argentina and Belgium (12 PM ET/4 PM UTC) boils down to one word: Messi.

Belgium’s coach Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said that his team are not favorites against Argentina, but that “there is a lack of balance in their team,” referring to their reliance on Messi. Argentina admits that they perhaps lean on the star player a bit too much, but also acknowledge that he’s a huge asset, and a major part of their success so far. If Belgium can stop Messi, they’re through to the semifinals; if not, they’re on a flight home.

For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s multilingual, multinational analysis.

Click here to follow the action live, or follow along on Facebook, or on Twitter with #WorldCupVOA.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.

Argentina ( 2 - 1 ) Bosnia-Herzegovina

All Eyes On Messi to Lead Argentina to Victory

By Mike Eckel   |
here

Here are the only two words you need to know in preparing for Argentina’s match-up with Group F rival Bosnia-Herzegovina, kicking off at 6 p.m. USEDT (10 p.m. GMT):

Lionel Messi.

The boy genius forward has dazzled the world for years in superlative performances for Spanish giant FC Barcelona. He’s been named the world’s greatest footballer by FIFA four times. And now, as captain of Argentina national squad, he wants to bring a World Cup trophy to his home country for the first time since 1986.

Bosnia-Herzegovina isn’t going to go without a fight, mainly on account of the fact that this is its first appearance in the World Cup since the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Watch Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic closely to lead the attack.

For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s multilingual, multinational analysis.

Click here to follow the action live, or watch it on Twitter at #WorldCupVOA.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.