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Lionel Messi

BRAZIL. — Even by Lionel Messi’s standards at what is an ever more extraordinary World Cup, this was late. But once again Messi was the difference. Once again an Argentina team that continues to disappoint was exposed as desperately over-reliant on their magical, masterful No 10.

He was not the scorer of the winning goal on this occasion. That honour would fall to Angel Di Maria. But he was the provider of a perfectly-weighted ball after a trademark run that saw him ride one challenge before inviting his international colleague to score.

For Switzerland it was so, so cruel. For 118 minutes they had more than provided an answer to the best that Argentina could throw at them.

Indeed they were the better team; certainly the creators of the better first half chances. Chances that will leave them only with regrets that they did at least not take this last 16 encounter to penalties.

Even after Di Maria’s goal they had opportunities, the sight of Blerim Dzemaili’s close-range header bouncing off the post — before rebounding off him and trickling wide — making defeat all the more painful for Ottmar Hitzfeld and his team.

Argentina were so desperately disappointing in this game even if Hitzfeld, twice a Champions League winner, did once again prove himself a master tactician.

Messi endured comfortably his worst game of the tournament, struggling to escape the attention of a superbly drilled Swiss defence until that decisive run; the first time he had really got beyond the Swiss midfield to take on their back four.

While Di Maria actually had a dreadful game, losing possession no less than 37 times in normal time.

If the Swiss were crushed by France in the group stages, conceding five goals, they were defensively brilliant this time. Further evidence, surely, of the impact a decent international manager can have on his players.

For the Argentina fans it was nothing short of torture. For the thousands of yellow-shirted Brazilians more enjoyable. They delighted in Xherdan Shaqiri’s fearless attacking football, even if he was a little too elaborate at times. Echoes of a young Cristiano Ronaldo. But he posed constant danger to a stuttering, static Argentina.

With Ezequiel Lavezzi playing wide on the right it did look like Sabella had tweaked his tactics a little for the Swiss; a slight variation on the 4-3-3 formation Messi and his colleagues demanded midway through their opening game and something closer to a more orthodox 4-4-2. Or 4-2-3-1 depending on where you wanted to position the ubiquitous Messi.

What was more clear was the deployment of Shaqiri in the hole behind the striker, Josip Drmic.

It was there that Hitzfeld obviously felt his playmaker could inflict the most damage, even if his first act was to concede a free-kick with a foul on Lavezzi.

He was more impressive in combining effectively with Gokhan Inler to threaten the Argentina defence, but until Granit Xhaka tested Sergio Romero with a shot in the 27th minute — he really should have scored – the contest had pretty much passed without incident.

The Swiss seemed intent on slowing the game right down, and at the same time smothering Messi and Angel Di Maria, and Argentina had no real answer to their approach.

Messi was certainly struggling to make any real impact, with Di Maria — the victim at one stage of a naughty challenge by Mehmedi — proving the biggest threat when he could escape the clutches of the Swiss midfield. One decent attacking move concluded with a Lavezzi shot that Diego Benaglio did well to hold.

Of the opportunities that were created in an uninspiring first half the Swiss certainly enjoyed the better of them.

If Xhaka was guilty of hitting his shot too tamely, has lack of conviction was nothing compared to Josip Drmic when he was sent clear by a marvellous defence-splitting pass from Shaqiri.

He had only Romero to beat, albeit on his left foot, but he succeeded only in chipping the ball meekly into the arms of a no doubt relieved Romero.

It was so, so wasteful but it remained encouraging for the Swiss as the match reached the half-time interval. Argentina once again looked fragile at the back, and particularly prone to the speed of Switzerland’s counter-attacks.

Argentina might have boasted more possession — 63 per cent in total — but more telling was the fact that the Swiss had secured more corners and shots on goal than their illustrious opponents; testament to the success of Hitzfeld’s tactics.

A rapidly executed attack sparked by Messi did present Gonzalo Higuain with a chance immediately after the break but he was thwarted by a super challenge from Johan Djourou.

But the Swiss would continue to squander yet more opportunities, with Drmic fluffing his lines again after being invited to score by Shaqiri. Another poor, poor finish.

It almost proved very costly indeed when Benaglio had to stretch to parry an angled shot from Marcos Rojo. The Swiss goalkeeper was more impressive still when he then diverted a close-range header from Higuain over his crossbar. — Mailonline.