Angel Di Maria scored in the 118th minute to give Argentina a barely deserved 1-0 win over Switzerland while Belgium also had to beat the United States of America 2-1 in extra-time.After a tense 0-0 draw at 90 minutes and a scoreless first period of extra time, Lionel Messi surged up the middle after Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner lost the ball on the halfway line and released Di Maria, who swept the ball home with his left foot before wheeling away in delight.
Blerim Dzemaili almost saved the Swiss when his header hit the post in stoppage time at the end of extra time, but Argentina held on and now face a quarterfinal with either Belgium or the United States, who play later on Tuesday.Switzerland assistant coach Michel Pont added: "Football is brutal, brutal, brutal. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have enough strength at the end to get through extra time.
"That's the way it is in soccer, one small mistake. We had a chance to get a goal before that... it's totally brutal."Messi revealed the inner torment his team felt as the game dragged towards a dreaded penalty shootout."Suffering, suffering, that's what we felt," he said. "We know we will go through times like this. That's football. We had luck on our side. We need to now move on."Argentina had leaned heavily on Messi throughout the group stage, the mercurial number 10 scoring four of their six goals, and the forward was again at the heart of all their best work, prompting and prodding in front of the massed Swiss defence.
While Switzerland managed to keep Messi off the scoresheet, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said he had made the difference."We know that Messi in one second can decide a match, and he has sufficient qualities for that, but then the pass to Di Maria and then the marvellous shot by Di Maria," said Hitzfeld, who had already announced he was stepping down after the tournament.
He was philosophical about the manner of defeat, which kept his side waiting for their first ever win over Argentina. "This is football, these are strong emotions and these are emotions you only have in football, and that's why we love football," he added.
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