If Argentina are to be honest about the run they’ve had at this World Cup so far, it’s Lionel Messi who has single-handedly dragged this team out of the mud, clawing and scraping to pull his compatriots through every match. You can’t win a tournament by just one player going supernova. There has to be a bit of help from the supporting cast.
In an arduous and messy 3-1 extra-time victory over Switzerland, Argentina booked a date with destiny reaching the semi-finals, and will be up against England. But they showed that they have more match-winners than just one on the pitch. They did it the hard way.
The early spark and the slow burn
The defending champions started out all guns blazing. Just 10 minutes in and Messi, who was almost unmarkable, whipped in an absolutely inch-perfect corner, finding Alexis Mac Allister, who rose to thump a brilliant header home and gave his nation the lead. We assumed now they were just going to run over their opposition, but that wasn't the case.
What followed was a frustrating, and soul-crushingly slow period. Switzerland’s defence shut the door on the Argentinian final third, leaving Messi completely in shackles. After the opening corner, the South American giants did not get another shot on target for the rest of the first half.
The Switzerland team started the second half more adventurously, playing in their stride as their opposition continued to stutter until, finally, in the 67th minute Dan Ndoye found the net to tie proceedings. The momentum had completely switched. Switzerland were well and truly in the contest now.
The Embolo disasterclass
And then, of all people, Breel Embolo decided that the easiest way to gift Argentina victory would be to play football on his head.
Having already been on a yellow after a stupid tackle on Paredes earlier, the Swiss striker then decided to show his acting prowess. As Paredes approached, Embolo flew, simulating a foul on himself, with all the grace and subtlety of a drunk clown at a funeral. The referee, to his shame, bought it, and cautioned Paredes with a yellow card.
The video referee saw the simulation and overturned the card. In fairness to the referee, he corrected himself with all the sensitivity he had, and swapped the card for Embolo.
Emobolo was already on a yellow, and this yellow card means he got sent off and the Swiss chances got practically zeroed. From there on, though, to their absolute credit, dug in deep and defended brilliantly to force the game into extra time.
Alvarez works his magic, Lautaro seals the deal
It was the usual tenseness and pressure that goes with a knockout fixture in extra time, and it seemed that a penalty shootout was going to be inevitable. That was until Julian Alvarez put himself to use once again, this time the scorer of a simply magical goal.
Receiving the ball high on the right in the 112th minute, Alvarez didn’t look where he was shooting but let a cannon of a shot fly towards the top corner, and you knew that was that. As he beat the keeper, the camera cut to Messi, who stared with a hint of pure awe at Alvarez's magic.
When all hope seemed lost for Switzerland, having thrown every body forward to search for an equaliser, Nico Gonzalez launched a blistering counter-attack that cut the defense open, and despite initial blushes, Lautaro Martinez eventually added the final polish to give Argentina the 3-1 victory.
Why this matters for the semi-final
As the Argentina team packs its bags for the journey north for their encounter against England who beat Norway to reah the semis as well, the implications of the context are what’s truly important. Having both Alvarez and Lautaro get their names on the scoresheet should give them, and the team, a massive psychological advantage.
This entire tournament, has revolved around the Argentine’s heavy reliance on their captain and the Barcelona legend. Frankly, Messi is putting up arguably the greatest individual carry-job the world has ever seen.
The Argentinians need their pure strikers to be able to produce the goods at key moments like these, especially as the games become more intense. To have dragged this game out of the fire without having to rely on their captain to manufacture all the goals, Argentina are starting to look like a more complete beast. Next is England, and the entire world awaits this colossus match.
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