Javier Mascherano's awkward injury from heroic Arjen Robben tackle at 2014 World Cup

Today is Javier Mascherano’s birthday.

The former Liverpool and Barcelona gladiator hung up his boots in November 2020.

But he will live long in the memory of fans across the world, mainly for his fiercely competitive nature and combative style on the pitch.

Between 2007-2010, his unwavering commitment to protect Rafa Benitez’s back-four endeared himself to the Anfield faithful.

When he moved on to Barcelona after his spell on Merseyside, he became one of the most cool and well calculated centre-backs in Europe until he left Camp Nou in 2018.

However, if you asked a fan to define his single most iconic career moment, it probably wouldn’t be lifting the Champions League or reaching a World Cup final with Argentina – although, if you said the latter option then you’d be pretty damn close.

Because it was in fact in the semi-final of the World Cup, the game prior to Argentina’s 1-0 defeat to Germany, that Mascherano’s big moment came.

They were playing the high-flying Netherlands team that had a plethora of world class talent through the likes of Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben.

In order to get a result, Argentina would need to rely heavily on their dogged defensive capabilities and their world-beating captain, Lionel Messi.

As it turned out, though, it would be a quiet day at the office for their little genius and instead the game would be a hard fought contest that was still 0-0 going into injury time.

With extra-time looming, Netherland’s most dangerous asset Robben burst into the Argentina penalty area and looked almost certain to smash home the winning goal at the death.

However, a charging back Mascherano put in an almost superhuman last-ditch tackle that prevented the shot from ever