Nothing so precious has ever been easy. Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a performance that mixed two parts ecstasy with one part agony. They secured a two-goal lead through Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez, played their most unbridled and captivating football of the tournament to date and lavished shots on the Australian goal in a gripping second half.
And yet, did you expect Australia to sit down and accept their fate? This Australia with its SPFL supporters, its honest fellows? Australia took the hard way to Qatar and they took the hard way out of it, beaten but never passed, even conceding a late consolation goal and threatening an almighty shock.
They must not be filled with well-known names. You’ve been run around for maybe an hour by the greatest player in the world. But they left every bit of themselves on this pitch and somehow you feel the game Down Under will never be quite the same.
For half an hour it looked like Australia could pull Argentina to their level. They were perhaps outnumbered in the stands, where Albiceleste’s armies wrapped a tight tourniquet of noise around the pitch, barely stopping to press. But on the pitch, it was the gold jerseys that initially looked busier, livelier and more numerous. They uncovered more ground, won most second balls, countered with decent numbers.
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Argentina, by contrast, looked a little sleepy after coming off a grueling game against Poland just three nights earlier. Although they held the ball well, the urgency and the craft and the speculative runs weren’t quite there. Her press was surprisingly light: not so much a press as a series of polite requests. St Mirren’s Keanu Baccus played well in Australia’s midfield.
Meanwhile, Messi spun around and spun away. He probed the channels, tinkering from wing to wing, diving deep into the green waters of midfield. He was fouled by St Mirren’s Keanu Baccus. He saw a few passes cut out. In other words, it was a quiet game for the world’s greatest player. It was at this point that Dundee United’s Aziz Behich did something he might only regret in terms of the debriefing.
It was 10 minutes before half-time and Messi was struggling for a ball near the right touchline. Dundee United’s Behich pushed him off the ball, grabbing a piece of his jersey and giving Messi a sharp Melburnian sled, the contents of which are sadly lost to history becomes. Messi’s angry reaction was the first real human moment we’d seen from him all night.
Maybe it meant something. Maybe it didn’t mean anything. All we know is that a few seconds later Messi collected the ball down the right wing, threw it to Alexis Mac Allister 30 meters away and charged into the box. With a speed and conviction we haven’t always seen from him in this tournament, he picked up Mac Allister’s pass through Nicolás Otamendi’s touch and slid the ball into the bottom corner as he had done several hundred times before , but never through the legs of Harry Souttar from Stoke City. It was his first shot in the penalty area of the entire game.
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Julián Álvarez takes the ball from Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to double Argentina’s lead. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
That was the cue for Lionel Scaloni to change something. In the second half he brought on Lisandro Martínez and switched to a back three. Had the loss to Saudi Arabia burned him? Anyway, it gave Argentina a breadth and verticality to suit them and Australia started to push forward. They now played with more energy, more brio and bravado. Messi made a couple of quick runs that produced his electrifying climax. When FC Copenhagen’s Mat Ryan received a routine back pass, Rodrigo de Paul charged at him and murderously closed his angles.
Ryan tried to dribble his way out of trouble. It was a moment of pure impulse, the kind of act where you can already hear the cheers of the crowd, maybe even glimpse a fleeting moment of viral fame. Unfortunately, as he ducked in front of De Paul, he forgot that Álvarez was lurking behind him. Álvarez nodded the ball. Álvarez’s swing ended beautifully, taking him off target. Ryan blinked blankly. He could hear the cheers. He could guess the viral notoriety. But he hadn’t planned it that way.
But things didn’t quite go as planned in Argentina either. Scaloni rolled out his substitutes, the drummers in the Argentina final brought them home and thoughts began to focus on the quarter-finals against the Netherlands. At this point, Adelaide United’s Craig Goodwin made a wild shot from 30 yards. Enzo Fernández got a distraction in the process. And somehow, a second later, the ball landed in the top corner, where Emi Martínez was totally stunned.
For a few minutes, Australia’s players trembled with belief and their fans with disbelief. They would have their moments too: Dundee United’s Behich with the kind of brilliant, labyrinthine dribbling they’re used to at Tannadice Park, Lisandro Martínez with a wonderful block. In the final seconds of injury time, Garang Kuol was alone with Emi Martínez, who parried his shot with a flying left hand. Argentina breathed again and now they are dreaming again.