SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Argentinas theme at this World Cup seems to be scrappy wins with Lionel Messi pulling through at the last minute to save the day. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . This time he didnt score on his own, but set the stage for Angel Di Maria to score an extra-time winner against Switzerland. "It doesnt matter if its beautiful or ugly," Di Maria said. "Only that Argentina won and will play another game in the tournament." Argentina will play Belgium in the quarterfinals. Except for its final group-stage win over Nigeria, Argentina has won its matches in Brazil in the same manner -- grinding down its opponents rather than dazzling them with brilliant football. In the first half Tuesday, Argentina struggled to find paths through Switzerlands five-man midfield, and it was the Swiss that produced the best chances. Granit Xhaka pushed Sergio Romero to a great save and Josip Drmic spoiled a great opportunity when he tried to chip the ball over the Argentina goalkeeper. When cracks started opening in the defence in the second half, goalkeeper Diego Benaglio kept Switzerland in the game, stopping Gonzalo Higuains header and Messis low shot in the 78th minute. Benaglio also saved a powerful attempt by Di Maria in extra time, and it looked like the Swiss would be able to push the game into a penalty shootout. Then, in the 118th, Rodrigo Palacio won the ball in midfield and fed Messi, who dribbled down the middle in trademark fashion, escaping a challenge from Swiss defender Fabian Schaer before poking the ball to Di Maria. Unmarked, the Real Madrid player beat Benaglio with his 10th goal in Argentinas colours. "Whats important is that we moved on to the next stage," said Messi, who has scored four of Argentinas seven goals, including an injury-time winner against Iran. "It was difficult. We knew it was going to be a hard match." Swiss substitute Blerim Dzemaili nearly equalized right before the end but his header hit the post, and the rebound bounced off his knee and wide of the goal. Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, whose brother died at age 81 one the eve of the match, said his team leaves the tournament with "our heads high." "We made life very tough for them," he said. "They managed to keep their cool. It shows Argentina has a good team." Hitzfeld said it was his last match as a football coach. He had earlier said he would quit after the tournament. His Argentine counterpart, Alejandro Sabella, said he thought his team played a "wonderful match," though he conceded theres room for improvement. "It was a match that we deserved to win," said Sabella. "The first half was very even. They had two clear chances and after that the match was ours." Argentina will play its next match without left back Marcos Rojo, who is suspended after receiving his second yellow card on Tuesday. ------ Lineups: Argentina: Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Federico Fernandez, Ezequiel Garay, Marcos Rojo (Jose Maria Basanta, 105); Fernando Gago (Lucas Biglia, 106), Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria; Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Ezequiel Lavezzi (Rodrigo Palacio, 74). Switzerland: Diego Benaglio; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Johan Djourou, Fabian Schaer, Ricardo Rodriquez; Xherdan Shaqiri, Gokhan Inler, Granit Xhaka (Gelson Fernandes, 66), Valon Behrami, Admir Mehmedi (Blerim Dzemaili, 113); Josip Drmic (Haris Seferovic, 82). Carolina Hurricanes Shirts . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. Carolina Hurricanes Pro Shop . -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, As always, I really enjoy your take on some of the questionable plays/calls/non-calls. I thought I would try and lighten it up a little with a request for you to share a truly funny or odd moment that you may have had while the players were lining up at the dot. There have been a couple of brief interchanges recently that made me think of this, the latest being at about 12:23 of the first in the Hawks/Kings game on Monday. With all the games you have done, there must be a few. Care to share any? Thanks again, Bajuhn Hey Bujuhn, The camera often catches intense debates between players or coaches and the officials but misses the lighter, humorous side that helps to bring the temperature down and build healthy professional working relationships. I learned early in my career that the use of humor, when appropriate (especially self-deprecating), had its place on the ice. Early in my very first season as a referee, I had a game where the home team was getting soundly trounced and their frustration was continuously being directed at me. I responded with multiple misconduct penalties and, toward the end of the game, players were sitting three deep in the penalty box. Following another goal that took the score in double digits, the coach sent his captain over to have a word with me. Very politely the captain asked, "Mr. Referee, my coach wants to know if he can get a penalty for thinking?" I said, "Probably not if he doesnt think out loud." The captain then said, "In that case, my coach thinks you are a F-ing A-hole!" I not only found the coaches comment to be creative but very funny and I began to laugh. The stern look on the face of the coach changed to a grin and then he began to laugh as well. The humor we shared in that moment, albeit at my expense, broke the ice and taught me a valuable lesson that would serve me throughout my career. In the early 1980s, I was the first referee to wear a wireless microphone during a game at MSG between the Minnesota North Stars and the Rangers. The microphone was left open throughout the entire game so it brought the television audience directly to the action on the ice with uncensored comments. We had several dust-ups throughout the game where my mic caught all the pleasantries that were being exchanged between players. Willi Plett tried to club Don Maloney of the Rangers in once such scrum and caught me on the bridge of my nose with his glove. After Plett served his penalty, he approached me at a stoppage of play and asked, "Is this your worst game of the season?" I shot back with a smile, "No, theyre all about this caliber. Carolina Hurricanes Gear. " Plett looked dumbfounded and shook his head while skating away. At times, I tried to council rookie officials not to take themselves so seriously in an effort to solicit player cooperation and earn respect. In 1988, my friend and colleague, linesman Pierre Champoux signed an NHL contract. Pierre quickly developed into an excellent linesman but in the beginning of his career, he did not have a very good command of the English language to put it mildly. We left training camp together that September and headed out West to work exhibition games and to work on Pierres English language skills. One of our early assignments was in Los Angeles and the rookie linesman wanted to establish his full control in the faceoff circle. Bernie Nicholls entered Pierres domain late in the first period to take the draw. In what Nicholls correctly perceived as an aggressive tone and animated gesture, the linesman commanded Nichols with, "You, put your stick down!" Bernie straightened up, cussed at Champoux by questioning who the "F" the rookie thought he was talking to? Nicholls was immediately ejected from the faceoff with a quick jerk of the linesmans thumb followed by, "You, out!" I skated over and told Nicholls to relax as a replacement entered the faceoff circle. Between periods, I conveyed the importance of quickly developing a good working relationship with all the players to gain respect and solicit their cooperation. I acted out a role-play to demonstrate the linesmans command to Nicholls that wasnt well received; followed by a polite approach I always used by requesting the centres to "please put your sticks down." It was obvious to Pierre which method would be better received by a player in the future. I finished by commenting if Pierre still received a hostile comment from a player following his polite request to follow with a lighter approach by saying, "Why are you so grumpy, did someone piss on your cornflakes this morning?" Pierre said I like dat and he couldnt wait to get on the ice to try his new techniques in the faceoff circle; especially the cornflakes line as it turned out. As the centres arrived for the faceoff, Pierre still had a bit of an edge to his tone when he commanded, "You, put your stick down please." Getting some resistance from the player, my rookie student responded immediately with, "Put your stick down or I will piss on your corn-flake!" Something got lost in the translation. Champoux quickly developed a command of the English language and continues to be recognized by the players as a highly respected linesman in the NHL. Pierre also enjoys his bowl of cornflakes in the morning with low-fat milk. ' ' '