JOHANNESBURG, June 27, (AFP): Argentina will meet Germany in the World Cup’s quarter-finals after striker Carlos Tevez struck twice - once controversially - to seal a 3-1 win over Mexico in Sunday’s round of 16 match.
Goals by Manchester City’s Tevez and Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain, his fourth here to become the tournament’s top-scorer, means Diego Maradona’s Argentina will now meet the Germans in Cape Town on Saturday in the last eight.
“It’s important to have reached the quarters. As for my goals? Well, I just want to be effective,” said Tevez self-effacingly.
“Now we have to relax a little ahead of going up against the Germans in the quarter-finals, four years after losing to them” also in the last eight, when the Germans won on penalties.
Mexico forward Javier Hernandez gave his side brief hope when he turned his marker in the 71st minute and smashed his shot past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero, although it was too little, too late.
Argentina were not to be denied, but Tevez’s first-half strike was awarded in controversial circumstances as replays showed he was off-side when world footballer of the year Lionel Messi gave him the final pass.
The Manchester City star’s shot was saved by Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez, but Messi followed up and chipped Perez for Tevez to head home.
The Mexican defence complained bitterly that Tevez was offside, but Italian referee Roberto Rosetti allowed the 26th-minute goal to stand despite the furore caused by a replay of the incident on the stadium’s giant TV screens.
Mexico captain Rafael Marquez picked up a yellow card almost from the restart for fouling Messi.
Things went from bad to worse for the Mexicans on 33 minutes when defender Ricardo Osorio’s pass went straight to Higuain, who slotted past Perez to make it 2-0 at the break.
Rosetti had to step in to break up a pitch-side melee between the two sides as they walked off for half-time with tempers boiling over in the wake of the first goal.
Tevez settled the matter with a breath-taking strike on 52 minutes which he rifled into the net’s top right-hand corner from just outside the penalty area, giving Perez no chance.
The Manchester City star came off in the 69th minute to make way for Juan Veron just as Argentina’s Martin Demichelis cleared off the line before Hernandez scored Mexico’s consolation.
This was the fifth straight finals where Mexico have exited the competition at the round of 16 phase and the last time they reached the quarter-finals was when the hosted the event in 1986.
Argentina remain on course for their third World Cup title after 1978 and 1986.
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JOHANNESBURG: FIFA hit back on Sunday at critics who blamed soccer’s world governing body for fans and companies losing millions on World Cup ticketing scams, which have left many seats empty in the stadiums.
South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that petrochemical giant Sasol and dozens of South African and foreign fans have lost more than 6.5 million rand ($852,500) in World Cup scams after buying tickets from illegal dealers.
“We have no specific comments on the issue of buying tickets outside FIFA channels,” FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said at a media briefing on Sunday, adding that FIFA should not take the blame for millions lost by fans and companies.
“Honestly, we have published I don’t know how many warnings before the competition, even before 2006.”
Clifford Green, a lawyer for FIFA and its hospitality affiliate Match, told the Sunday Times that this week he handed police a dossier of affidavits from seven companies on their huge losses.
FIFA this week named Norwegian company Euroteam, which operates websites, as selling tickets illegally.
Danish national Michael Bakkerstrom and German Siv Anne Basley appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court this week for allegedly selling tickets illegally for Euroteam.
Despite the crackdown, Euroteam put an advert in the Sunday Times’s sister newspaper, The Times, on Friday, saying: “World Cup 2010 Tickets. All matches including the final.”
A tiny note on the advert says the firm is not affiliated to FIFA and all orders are subject to Norwegian law.
“No one should buy tickets outside the official channels. First, you put yourself in an illegal situation and, second, you might not enter the stadium,” Maingot said. (RTRS)