Argentina beat Mexico 3-1 in an exciting affair Sunday to set up a World Cup quarter-final meeting with Germany. The game was a replay of Argentina's round-of-16 match against Mexico in the 2006 World Cup. The two-time world champions had won 2-1 at the time also to meet Germany in the next round. Carlos Tevez put Argantina ahead with a dubious goal on 26 minutes, before Gonzalo Higuain doubled their advantage seven minutes later. Manchester City ace Tevez completed a brace eight minutes from the hour mark. Mexico's Javier Hernandez netted what turned out to be his side's consolation goal on 71 minutes. Promising Start Mexico had a promising start to the game, coming too close to breaking the deadlock twice in the space of four minutes shortly after the kickoff. Wide man Carlos Salcido unleashed a fierce drive from around 40 yards but it was denied by the crossbar. Andres Guardado also saw his curling shot from outside the area miss the target by centimeters.
Argentina's first chance fell to Lionel Messi, who tried his luck on 12 minutes but his feeble shot was no threat. His efforts eventually gifted the two-time world champions an undeserved lead. Tevez went one-on-one with Oscar Perez but the keeper blocked him before Messi gathered the loose ball. A tame shot from the Barcelona wizard was headed home by Tevez; a goal that should have been disallowed through offside. Many players protested in vain against the referee's staggering decision, seeing that Tevez wasn't covered by any players. Higuain capitalized on a Ricardo Osorio slip-up, when the latter unjustifiably flicked the ball aside only to find the Real Madrid hitman steal it to go past Perez and slot into an empty net. Argentina tightened their grip on the game later on. Higuain, who's now the World Cup top scorer with a four-goal tally, could have hit Argentina's third three minutes from halftime but his header went wide. Right before the interval Mexico piled up pressure upfront, couldn't reduce the arrears though.
Unstoppable Shot Mexico took the upper hand for about five minutes after the break but soon conceded the third goal. Tevez killed off the game with an unstoppable shot that he released after bamboozling a couple of defenders to make room for himself. Mexico's Pablo Barrera tried to pull one back singlehandedly when he dribbled past two challengers before his effort hit the side-netting from a tight angle. Salcido fired another shot from long range seven minutes past the hour mark only to see his drive palmed away by the goalie. Mexico redeemed themselves once again midway through the second period. Hernandez scored Mexico's sole goal with a clinical finish after rounding his marker. Javier Aguirre's men kept trying to close the gap on Argentina till the very end but to no avail. Messi was close to netting his maiden World Cup goal in the dying minutes. His shot from the edge of the area was parried by Perez.
