Did anyone truly expect a straightforward path? If Argentina hope to claim this World Cup, their journey will be nothing short of a wild ride. What looked to be a comfortable evening against Switzerland turned into a snapshot of their entire campaign, threatening to waste everything before a flash of pure brilliance delivered redemption.
For once, the magic did not spring from Lionel Messi’s left foot. Indeed, with his team struggling toward a penalty shootout deep into extra time, Messi had just been stopped by Gregor Kobel when the pivotal strike arrived. Switzerland failed to clear their lines, and the recently subbed-on José López, collecting the ball on the left, laid it back to a previously invisible Julián Álvarez.
What came next was, in terms of sheer majesty and timing, undoubtedly the goal of the summer. Álvarez stood 22 yards out, positioned between the arc and the corner of the box, when he unleashed a ferocious, bending shot that curled past a fully stretched Kobel and flew into the top corner. It was a breathtaking strike even before considering the stakes. Argentina will face England in the semi-finals on Wednesday; four decades after the ‘Hand of God’ sent shockwaves that still reverberate, Messi will finally play in a match made all the more captivating by its scarcity.
Álvarez may have been dreaming of Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral’s goal, which nearly sent Argentina crashing out in the round of 32. There were undoubted parallels, but Álvarez’s strike, from a greater distance and delivered while Argentina were toiling, edges the comparison. It was a fitting tribute, too, on the day their legendary former captain Antonio Rattin passed away at 89. Lautaro Martínez removed any lingering doubt just before the final whistle, tucking home a rebound after Thiago Almada’s counter-attacking effort was parried. Messi’s supporting forwards, neither of whom had impressed over the previous month, had found the crucial answers.
Switzerland’s heartbreak was unmistakable. The game had slowed to a crawl after Alexis Mac Allister’s early header beat Kobel, but as the second half wore on, their cautious strategy appeared to pay dividends. Dan Ndoye’s equalizer had been coming, a reward for shifting through the gears against sluggish opponents, and they seemed poised to overturn the storyline. Argentina, who habitually struggle to reassert control once it slips, were visibly panicking.
Then Breel Embolo succumbed to a moment of sheer folly he will forever regret. He had already been cautioned in the first half for a clumsy challenge on Leandro Paredes, one of the few incidents that raised the intensity after Mac Allister’s opener. When Embolo fell near the left touchline under a tackle from the same opponent, who then received a yellow card of his own, referee João Pinheiro likely saw an open-and-shut case of retaliation.
Switzerland players plead their case with referee Joao Pinheiro after attacker Breel Embolo was shown a second yellow card against Argentina. Photograph: Ed Zurga/AP
However, the video review told a different story. Slow-motion footage revealed Embolo had manufactured the contact, deliberately initiating the tangle with Paredes, and the call was overturned under the newly implemented “mistaken identity” rule. Paredes’s booking was erased; Embolo received a second yellow for simulation and, once the protests subsided, left the pitch in a flood of tears. Embolo and Switzerland must have sensed they had squandered a chance that may never present itself again.
Nevertheless, Murat Yakin’s side mounted a resolute defensive effort, which took a full 50 minutes to finally crack when stoppage time is factored in. They were under varying degrees of siege from that point onward. It seemed logical to expect Messi, whose 10th-minute corner was nodded in at the near post by the small, unmarked Mac Allister, would elevate his mostly peripheral role. Yet he was denied from close range by Kobel, a save likely valid despite a raised offside flag, and then curled a right-footed shot wide as the clock wound down. When the Swiss keeper brilliantly stopped Lautaro Martínez, it condemned Argentina to an additional 30 minutes entirely of their own making.
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They had coasted after taking the lead, the rest of the first half a non-event except for Emiliano Martínez smothering at the feet of the onrushing Embolo. When Switzerland upped the tempo after the break, Argentina could not cope, with Martínez saving from Ndoye and Granit Xhaka during a spell of intense pressure. The ever-threatening Ndoye later exchanged passes with Ricardo Rodriguez and finished with composure. Argentina were now compelled to accelerate, but the lottery of spot kicks grew increasingly likely, with a series of wild tackles and rushed choices scarring their performance in extra time.
Lionel Scaloni’s players appeared exhausted, irritated, and prickly. Almada fired into the side-netting, much of the overwhelmingly partisan crowd believing it had gone in, and Messi steered a free-kick feebly into the wall when another date with fate seemed certain. Instead, it was Álvarez who etched his name into the history books. Argentina may need to be significantly sharper against England; yet, when they consistently produce such stunning scenes of high drama and emotion, pure inspiration might just suffice.
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