Argentina struggle to beat Switzerland

Argentina took 118 minutes to break down stubborn Switzerland then survived an extraordinary, heart-stopping finale before reaching the World Cup quarter-finals after a dramatic 1-0 win on Tuesday. With penalties looming, Angel Di Maria stroked the ball home from the edge of penalty area to put the finishing touch to a trademark Lionel Messi run, sparking wild celebrations among the South Americans and their fans in Sao Paulo. There was still time for Swiss substitute Blerim Dzemaili to head the ball against the post from point-blank range and his teammate Xherdan Shaqiri to send a free kick straight into the Argentina wall amid unbearable tension. "Football is brutal, brutal, brutal. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have enough strength at the end to get through extra time," said Switzerland's assistant coach Michel Pont. Argentina face Belgium in their quarter-final in Brasilia on Saturday (1600 GMT). Argentina became the seventh team to reach the quarter-finals, all of them winners of their first round groups. Like Brazil, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Germany and France before them, they had to suffer much more than in the group stage before finally booking their place. Although Argentina dominated the match, their attacks lacked variety and Switzerland, brilliantly marshalled by veteran coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in his last game in charge, defended superbly. Hitzfeld is now retiring following a career in which he has won seven Bundesliga and two Champions League titles. The Swiss broke forward when they had a chance and created several chances, with Josip Drmic wasting the best when he chipped the ball into Sergio Romero's arms from an excellent position. "Yesterday Germany, Holland the day before. Nothing's easy, it's all hard work. Football has evolved today and everything is very level," said Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano, referring to narrow victories by the Germans and Dutch. "We always tried to play, we just made one mistake in the first half that allowed a one-on-one with 'Chiquito' Romero," added Di Maria, according to Reuters.