A notorious night was waiting at Kansas City when the men in sky blue returned to Arrowhead Stadium, where the Albiceleste kicked off this year’s mission to defend the title.

With a pinch of worry from the previous two hard-fought battles, Lionel Messi and Co arrived to get past the Swiss hurdle and to get their mojo back.

Lionel Scaloni has had a rather confusing and difficult time maneuvering the ship that is supposedly carrying the hopes of billions of fans around the world.

However, his campaign started to look pale once the Argentine troop started the knockout stages.

A team with 26 superstars chosen to give their all for the country, but it all comes down to a select few.

His oversimplifying of the rotation of players made it monotonous and oftentimes very predictable.

On 28 May of this year, FIFA made a report that headlined “Barco buoyed by Scaloni selection” when it was becoming evident that Valentin Barco would be one of the names in the mix who would have a stellar campaign if given the right game time.

However, that was a big if!

Up until the quarter-final clash with Switzerland on Saturday, Barco played only 19 minutes.

He, along with a couple of others who went to the US with a complete fire of a form, was not even tested duly.

That itself is a big task Scaloni needs to underline as they march on to compete in the last two games before ultimate glory.

But the narrative still demands a straight answer to a rather difficult question.

“Is it too late?”

Messi, on the other side, was on a different spectrum.

His involvement in the game was never in question, and it itself sometimes comes under scrutiny when he doesn’t deliver in a Messi-esque manner.

The game against the Swiss started to look like it was one of those days.

Despite Alexis Mac Alister turning the assist from a Messi corner into a quick lead, the left-footed magician looked a bit out of colour in the whole 120 minutes that he played.

However, that notion begs a question:

“If Argentina is 100, why does Messi has to be 99 of it?”

But, if not Messi, then who?

Alvarez. Julian Alvarez. At least that is what the 26-year-old forward proved on the biggest stage.

His first goal in this year’s World Cup put Argentina in a well-deserved lead when he did “Bend it like Beckham!”

Argentina finally broke the deadlock after 112 minutes with that Alvarez finish.

It is good news on another front as well.

Alvarez, if fit, should be available for another two more editions.

This allows the forward line to be more flexible if both him and Lautaro Martinez gets in the act and writes a new tale of success for the Argentine forward line.

Since Lautaro came up in talks, it is not too late to understand the importance of such a striker who has been the top-scorer in Italy in the recently concluded season for Inter Milan.

Netizens believe that they see Lautaro filling the shoes of Gonzalo Higuain in the forward line, but with Messi in his last spell of stepping on mediocrity to make way for his extraordinary brilliance, Lautaro might as well move past Higuain in the list of all-time great Argentine forwards.

Argentina will face England in a blockbuster semi-final on Wednesday.

Messi, on his first encounter with the English blokes in a World Cup, would want to ask one vital question to the British fans:

“Is it really coming home, fellas?”

FP/A