Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez made an impressive late tackle in the dying minutes of the match to deny Australia an almost certain draw.
Argentina were favorites going into the game and took the lead thanks to a moment of brilliance from Lionel Messi and the lead was doubled in the second half after Julián Álvarez exploited a goal error.
And it looked like it was going to be a one-sided affair, but Australia pulled back after Craig Goodwin’s effort was deflected in the 77th minute, giving the Socceroos a lifeline.
The goal encouraged Australia to press further and they came within inches of scoring the second, but were prevented by an excellent tackle. Martinez, a centre-back for Argentina’s Manchester United, denied Australian left-back Aziz Behich what could have been the tournament-winning goal in the 80th minute.
Behich received the ball and morphed into Messi as he charged into the Argentinian defense, facing off against several players. Entering the penalty area, he brought down Nicolás Otamendi before firing, which was heroically saved by Martínez, who came up with an incredible tackle to save the goal.
Check out the awesome defense piece below:
Almost the goal of the tournament?
Australia nearly tied with a brilliant solo run from Aziz Behich?
What a last post from Lisandro Martínez!#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
– BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 3, 2022
