Gonzalo Higuain leads Argentina into first semis since 1990

Gonzalo Higuain early strike in the 8th minute was the only difference between victory and Belgium as the midfielder lifted himself from his bad run in the tournament to take his country into the semi-final stage after 24 years.

Heading into the game, the Napoli midfielder had only as assist to show for himself and was criticized for the lack of quality performance so far. But he let all that flow with his super strike early in the game and also another sweet attempt that was denied by the cross bar.

The ball deflected off of Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen from a Angel Di Maria shot and headed into the box. Higuain took the chance and rammed his foot into the ball to put it in the back of the net past showstopper Thibaut Courtois.

This goal ended the player goal draught of not having scored in 528 minutes for his country.

The 26-year-old stepping up to the occasion is also comforting to coach Alejandro Sabella and the Argentinians as their star player Angel Di Maria suffered a thigh injury in the midst of the match and will be missing the rest of his country’s games, particularly the semi-final clash against Netherlands on Wednesday.

Here’s a statistic of the player’s performance:

Shots – 3

Shots on Target – 1

Passes – 23

Pass Percentage – 83

Dribbles – 1

Touches – 42