Messi: Progress all that mattered

Photo : Getty Images

Lionel Messi played down fears about Argentina's FIFA World Cup™ campaign after they needed a dramatic extra-time winner to see off Switzerland in Sao Paulo.

Angel Di Maria scored in the 118th minute to give Argentina a 1-0 win over the Swiss at the Arena Corinthians. It would have been a different story had Switzerland taken their chances in the first half.

But, despite four narrow wins at the World Cup, Messi is not worried about Argentina's form heading into Saturday's quarter-final clash against Belgium in Brasilia. "It was not an easy match, but we knew it wouldn't be," the Argentina captain told a press conference in the Arena Corinthians after the match.

"We have seen throughout the World Cup that all the matches have been on an equal footing and lots of important teams have gone out. What is important is that we are through to the next stage - that is what we wanted."

I was nervous towards the end because we couldn't score and any mistake could have left us out.

Argentina forward Lionel Messi

Diego Benaglio had an impressive game in goal for Switzerland, denying Di Maria, Rodrigo Palacio and Pablo Zabaleta earlier in the match. Messi feared Argentina could have been heading out until he squared for Di Maria and he curled the ball past Benaglio at the death.

"I was nervous towards the end because we couldn't score and any mistake could have left us out," the Barcelona forward said. "The minutes were passing by and we didn't want the match to go to penalties.

"We were suffering, but we had a special play - I passed to Angel and now we can celebrate."

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2014/m=7/news=messi-progress-all-that-mattered-2397827.html

Jelang Duel Belgia-AS, Restoran Wafel Ini Diboikot

Foto : Republika.co.id

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LOS ANGELES -- Waffle House, restoran terkenal di Amerika Serikat (AS) yang menyediakan menu kue wafel, mengajak untuk melakukan boikot kue wafel Belgia menjelang laga AS melawan Belgia di babak 16 besar Piala Dunia 2014.

"Kami tidak percaya dengan wafel Belgia," kata Waffle House dalam akun resminya di jejaring sosial Twitter.

Bahkan, Wafel Belgia tidak ditawarkan dalam menu di sebanyak 1.700 kedai Waffle House yang tersebar di 25 negara bagian, sebagaian besar berada di selatan di mana logo kuning mereka menjadi pemandangan yang tak asing di jalanan.

Juru bicara Waffle House Meghan Irwin mengatakan kepada Today.com jika restoran waralaba itu hanya ingin membuat sedikit candaan dan menunjukkan dukungan kepada timnas AS yang akan menghadapi Belgia pada Selasa untuk menentukan siapa yang akan lolos ke perempat-final Piala Dunia.

"Kami tidak pernah menyajikan wafel Belgia di Waffle House, dan kami hanya ingin mendukung tim AS," kata Irwin melalui cuit, yang memicu banyak respon yang mendukung AS, serta diskusi yang dimotori oleh Wikipedia tentang apa perbedaan wafel Belgia dengan versi wafel yang disajikan di negara-negara bagian AS itu.

Pada laman Wikipedia disebutkan wafel Belgia adalah jenis wafel yang terkenal di Amerika Utara. Dibandingkan dengan wafel Amerika biasa, wafel Belgia mempunyai ukuran lebih besar, adonan yang lebih ringan, kisi-kisi yang lebih tinggi sehingga mempunyai pola yang lebih dalam.

Sedangkan di negara Belgia sendiri tidak dikenal apa yang disebut wafel Belgia, namun lebih mengenal jenis-jenis lainnya seperti wafel Brussels dan Liege.

Redaktur:Citra Listya Rini

http://www.republika.co.id/berita/piala-dunia/golazo/14/07/01/n80dsp-jelang-duel-belgiaas-restoran-wafel-ini-diboikot