ANGEL Di Maria scored two minutes from the end of extra-time as Argentina edged past Switzerland 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Tuesday.

After a dour 90 minutes at the Arena Corinthians in which Argentina failed to find a breakthrough past an obdurate Swiss side, Di Maria’s goal came with the match seemingly heading for a shootout.

Lionel Messi found him inside the penalty box and the Real Madrid winger stroked the ball home with a left-footed shot that gave Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio no chance.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2014