19.40 Another World Cup vintage: an Argentina game where Messi doesn't score. But he definitely made that winner.
Hansen's verdict of Di Maria: "the worst performance you've ever seen from any player in your life." No matter, those long bambi-like legs got him up the pitch. And this was the result. Sometimes you've got to hate football...
FULL-TIME Shaqiri hits the wall with the kick, and the whistle blows. What an end to this game. About as manic a last five minutes as we've had in this rip-roaring World Cup. The Swiss are down and out. Inconsolable.
123 min Shaqiri goes down. Free-kick...last chance for Switzerland, just outside the box.
123 min The Swiss have gone for rush goalie! Benaglio is out of his goal and in the Argentine box. The ball breaks and Di Maria takes a punt from his own half and just misses! Incredible end to this game now.
121 min CHANCE. From a corner for Switzerland. AGONISING as Dzjemaili hits the foot of the bar with the keeper beat. He can't put the rebound in with the goal gaping. Incredible chance.
120 (+1) min Three minutes to be added
GOAL DI MARIA. ARGENTINA. Heart-break for Switzerland, and it had to be that man, Di Maria. Messi does what only Messi can do. He picks up the ball and advances, evades one tackle and lays the ball on a plate for Di Maria. He finishes it with brilliant poise. Argentina scrape through.
116 min Four minutes to go before we start lining up for penalties. Both sides going through the motions a little. They all look dead on their feet. Sabella prowls his area like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's not taking one, is he?
114 min
Evan Dunn: This tournament has seen a return to the defend, defend, attack - the new Tiki Taka maybe?
112 min Di Maria nearly has his moment. The Madrid winger has been infinitely better in the first ten minutes of extra time than the whole game. He cuts inside, but has his effort deflected for a corner. It comes out for him again, and this time he reverts to type. Row Z for the Brazuca.
110 min The Swiss let a brilliant opportunity to break go to waste. Shaqiri is just getting angrier and angrier. I fear he may combust at this rate.
108 min Argentina don't look like they've got the legs to go and win this, if anything the Swiss look the sharper. Mascherano wins a free-kick in the Swiss half. They play it short but are met with two banks of four in red shirts. Di Maria decides to hit one; great effort and gets a nice one-handed save from Benaglio. One for the paps.
EXTRA TIME 2ND HALF Sabella makes his final change: Gago is off for Biglia.
19.12 Paul Knott, on why swashbuckling goal-fests are actually boring after a while:
I might be in the minority but, bah humbug, enough of all this joy and thrills. I'm actually quite enjoying this good old-fashioned backs to the wall defend and counter attack performance by Switzerland.
HALF TIME IN EXTRA TIME Argentina come forward with intent. Di Maria is through and plays a ball to Messi but again, no luck as the Swiss are back in numbers. Rojo is off for Basanta. And that's just about it from the first half of ET.
105 min The ref gets in the way of Shaqiri as he tries to advance. The man in green takes an absolute earful from the Swiss unit. Don't watch and learn from that kids and wannabe kid referees.
104 min Shaqiri tires to do it all himself and is met with ole's from the Brazilian trolls in the stadium. Switzerland are ending the period well and the stadium is awash with ironic cheers.
102 mins Seems a very long time ago that this Swiss team were on the end of a total tonking from France in the Group Stages. All plaudits to Hitzfeld for getting his men back together after that. Yohann Djourou has been a rock so far. A rock.
100 mins Shaqiri is one of the few savings graces of this game. He tries to dance his way into the Argentine box. Threads a ball through to the front-man, but he's offside.
98 min You have to think that another side with more attacking intent would be able to undo this dodgy Argentinian defence. The nervousness exudes from the keeper Romero to his centre-backs and beyond. Half-way through extra-time and penalties would be merciful right now.
94 min
93 min CHANCE for Argentina. This time Benaglio doesn't deal with a corner, and Garay fails to steer it in the net. Looks like more of the same so far. Argentina press without any luck. Switzerland look organised and ready for the onslaught.
91 min
HERE WE GO AGAIN
18.51 Angel Di Maria has lost posession 36 times in the first 90 minutes. 36.
@PaulKnott11: Swiss commentator advises Behrami not to try it on because "Messi is unpunishable"
EXTRA-TIME. Well it was always coming after the first ten minutes or so. It's been a pretty turgid affair; Argentina lacking any quality if you take Messi out of the equation. ET approaches, the fourth time in seven knock-out games so far.
90 min (+3) Bona fide chance for Switzerland to win it then. A free kick goes in from Fernandes, but Schar can't get underneath it. Swiss centre-backs have been marvellous today, the same can't be said for their counterparts. Into the last minute of added time.
90 min Messi only needs a minute and he looks like he's readying himself for another match winning goal after beating his man exquisitely. But Switzerland still won't let him through. The Swiss look to be breaking dangerously, but Rojo takes a yellow card after a cynical challenge.
88 min Some Argy bargy from Messi. Frustrated Leo gets a ticking off from the ref after he's felled by Behrami and then the two players have a little shoulder barge. Behrami goes down like he's been shot. Ref's not having it. Rightly so.
86 min Defensive, disciplined, stubborn Switzerland look like they want to put our World Cup fun to a halt for a while. This one looks set for extra time and beyond. Five mins of normal time remain.
85 min
Fungai Chigumbura just about sums it up perfectly: "This match is enough to make you wish FIFA reserved the right to end certain contests before full time and just have them go straight to penalties.If not for the time conservation, then at least for the viewers."
83 min Serferovic comes on as a striker for Drmic. He's got ten mins and maybe extra-time to make a difference.
82 min Switzerland haven't managed to cross their half-way line for around 20 minutes now. But their backline has been splended. The red shirts are all over Messi and co. like a rash. Drnic wins a very useful foul in the centre circle. Should give the Swiss some time for a breather.
80 min I've counted and that's the 14th time Ottmar Hitzfeld's been referred to as 'wily'. Let's just stop now everyone.
@PaulKnott11: Swiss TV chuffed to hear chants of "Suica" (Switzerland) from the Brazilians in the crowd. Needed the help in that sticky spell.
79 min NEARLY FOR MESSI. It looks like it's going to be another Messi saves the day moment. The Maestro faints to beat his man, hits a good strike but this time Benaglio is equal to it. The rebound is fought over by three Swiss defenders and Palacio. The goalkeeper takes a knee in the head for his troubles.
77 min Not much has clicked for the Argentines today. They've had almost exclusive use of the ball for the last half an hour, but final balls, crosses, corner kicks and set-pieces have been less than average. Swiss keeper Benaglio has been forced in to no heroics.
76 min 15 minutes remain, and Argentina still knocking at the door. This time, new kid Palacio gets his head on a tasty ball from Messi. But his shaved head can't get it on target and it dribbles wide.
73 min Gelson Fernandes makes his mark on this game, by giving Di Maria a right good hacking. Yellow card. Meanwhile, Lavezzi who's been handy in spells, is off for Palacio. He's got less tatoos and hair has Palacio.
71 min Paul Knott: "Pressure is building and Swiss composure slipping. Need to get a grip on it again quickly.which is why Fernandes is coming on. He's a calming influence."
70 mins
Kiran Kulkarni: If you leave Messi out of the squad, the leftover trash isn't capable of winning the npower Championship or promotion. This Argentinean team cannot win the World Cup unless there are quite a few 'Hands of God'...
68 min Chances. Zabaleta does what he does week in week out for City. He puts in a brilliant ball, which is just waiting to be buried by Higuain, but the Napoli man makes some horrible contact. Messi lets fly with a rocket that just skims the top of the bar.
66 min The Swiss make a change. Yellow carded Xhaka is off for Gelson Fernandes, formerly of Man City.
64 min The Argies have been camped in the Swiss third for the last ten minutes, but there's plenty of space for the Swiss to exploit should they want to. Argentina are backing off at every available opportunity when the red shirts try and break.
62 min SAVE KEEPS. Rojos again on the left hand side, puts in a peach for Higuain. It's on target but clawed away from the Swiss stopper. Finally, a little bit of quality on show.
60 min Oh. Angel Di Maria you did so well. He takes on his man at pace, needs a cross to finish it and tries an inexplicable and rather rubbish rabona. Goal kick. Poor from you, Kafka.
59 min CHANCE for Argentina. Messi has some green space around him, he finds Lavezzi who spots Rojos out wide. Cross or shot? Hard to tell but it was curling and forced the keeper into a save.
58 min Daniel Martinez is repping for the home Continent:
"Today Argentina must beat the Swiss, if not… Brazil or Colombia could be the last survivors from the Americas."
Team USA, Daniel?
55 min Argentina look to make some headroads in the wide areas. Lavezzi looks useful, but he doesn't have much support with him. The Swiss are snuffing it all out as they were in the first half. Snufftzerland.
53 min Paul Knott suggests labelling Shaqiri the 'Alpine Messi'. Based on the first 45 mins, I'd be more inclined to call Leo the Latin American Shaqiri maybe.
50 min Shaqiri has a pop at goal from a free-kick. The keeper is there. Or should be. He makes contact and then just fumbles and fumbles for an age. Switzerland come again, Drmic collects in the box. It's a difficult chance and he skies his shot. All the threat is Switzerland's so far.
48 min Ooh hello, booked Xhaka takes down Messi. The ref looks like he's going to brandish another card, but refrains. Free-kick Argentina. It's punched away and now, even this raucous crowd of Brazilians and Argentines sounds bored to death.
46 min CHANCE. Probably Argentina's best so far in this match. Messi wanders wide and whips in a ball off balance, in the box. Higuain looks to make contact but is mashalled by a Swiss defender all the way.
KICK-OFF
17.55 Some breaking transfer news while all that was going on: Chelsea have finally completed the signing of Diego Costa.Brilliant. Now let us never mention this ever again.
17.53 Small unfancied side puts the panics on favourites in competitive first half. Where have we heard that before...Switzerland will hope to avoid 'doing an Algeria'.
Meanwhile this guy's been the best player on the park
An 'absolute stinker' is Alan Hansen's verdict. The Swiss are cancelling out everything the Argers are throwing at them. But that said, they've had the best chances of the game and were it for some composure, Drmic would have put them in front.
Paul Knott: Swiss fans here liking the look of this so far. Tight at the back, give or take a few Djourou-isms. Inler on top of the job in midfield. Front players posing a threat when they get the chance.
Believe it or not Drmic was full of goals a few weeks ago. Hope he hasn't dried up at the wrong time. But he does tend to recover well after missing. Usually buries the next chance he gets.
HALF-TIME Almost no additional minutes at the end of the half.
44 min Lavezzi's had some success on the left hand side. He does well to make his way into the box, Messi is running into the box, but again, he's surrounded. Swiss discipline is seeing them through so far and they're a constant threat on the counter-attack with the pace of Shaqiri and poise of Inler.
42 min Some glimpses of what Argentina are capable of. Messi descends on the box, and he's surrounded by a throng of at least four Swiss players following his every move. Messi works it to Di Maria, but the eventual effort is poor.
39 min CHANCE. Oh no Drmic. The Swiss striker is through on goal, Romero decides to stay in his goal, and the eventual effort is nothing short of pathetic. He just casually lobs it in to the hands of the keeper. Should put his foot through it. Ottmar winces on the touchline.
38 min Neither midfields are getting the better of each other so far. A game of very very few chances. Made for Messi to wave his magic wand...
37 min
36 min Shaqiri's kick is double-punched away by the keeper. And we have our first card. Xhaka commits probably the 34th foul of the game, and the ref's had enough. He sees yellow.
35 min Shaqiri looks like he's been given a 'roving commission' for the Swiss too. He's popping up on the left, right and through the centre. Attracting plenty of fouls too. The man-fridge is bought down for a free-kick on the edge of the box.
33 min The Swiss are packing their box with red shirts at the first sign of an Argentine attack. Messi is thwarted after Di Maria cut inside from the right and attempted to get a shot away. The Brazilians are jeering every touch by the boys in stripes
31 min
30 min Now it's Argentina's first shot at goal. Lavezzi hits a relatively weak effort at goal. But suddenly, we're having chances galore. A brilliant corner is whipped across goal but Garay can't make any contact with it.
28 min CHANCE. Xhaka has a pop at the Argentine goal after a short corner evades the Arg's. It's hit straight at the stopper however. But finally, this game looks a little livlier.
26 min Higuain heads over from the dead-ball. Looked too far away from goal to ever threaten.
25 min Both teams nullyfying each other at the moment. It'll take a moment of individual brilliance from someone to break through all the cancelling-out. Messi...? Nearly, he tries to weedle his way through the Swiss defence but is crowded out. Di Maria is bought down again. Free-kick.
24 min Regular writer-inner, Nic Chimenti
As an American with Italian blood, I am pulling for USA and Argentina today. God help us if Belgium and Switzerland win, however. Take France and Germany out of each team and you have Dutch v. Italian -- advantage Belgium.
22 min Blonde-tipped Behrami is hacked down by Di Maria. Switzerland try and advance but it's all very congested in the middle third. More fouls as the very rat-like Mascherano takes man rather than ball.
20 min Messi tries to get past the rats that are tailing him at every opportunity. But they defeat him this time, and fairly too as Rodriguez gets his toe on the ball and to safety.
19 min
Alan Yates: I like to think of Messi's role on the pitch as the Roving Utility Man, or RUM.
17 min Some sloppy stuff from the Swiss as they lose it carelessly. Messi pounces and gets it to Zabaleta. But the City man can only find the keeper with his ball.
15 min Messi is challenged in the middle of the park. "They're like rats around him" pronounces Lawro.
14 min Argentina's Three Wise Men (...2.5?)
12 min Semi-chance for Arg. Messi gets away from Behrami, the former Hammer gives him time to play a ball into the box, but it's collected by the keeper. Nobody in stripes can meet it.
10 min Lavezzi takes another free-kick from the left, but again it's met with a Swiss head. Djourou's I think.
8 min Some nice attacking play from the Swiss. Some swift passing puts the creepers on the Argentine defence. They have a corner, it goes out to Gokhan Inler who swipes at it, 30 yards out. The Brazilian fans in Sao Paulo are going ape when the Swiss are on the ball. It's making for some very entertaining viewing.
6 min There's a melange of red and blue and white stripes in the box but the kick can't find anyone.
5 min Mark Lawrenson describes Messi's position on the pitch as a 'roving commission'. Di Maria tries to work it to the Roving Commissioner (RC) but is fouled by Lichsteiner. It was a cynical one, but no card shown. Free-kick in the final third.
3 min Di Maria runs down the channels to chase a ball. Throw-in for the Arg. Higuain tries to find a man in the box but the danger is clearer. Shaqiri is already in the thick of things. Had been fouled twice, and a foulee once.
1 min The Argers knock it around between themselves comfortably. Shaqiri looks like he's going down the middle rather than on the right.
KICK-OFF and we're off in Sao Paulo. Argentines outnumbering the Swiss by around 10,000 to 1 I reckon.
16.58Our teams ladies and gentleman...
16.56 The Argentine national anthem gets us going in Sao Paulo. Not particularly lyrical, more a series of woops and cheers but all good fun.
Some potentially sad news about the Swiss theme as it rings out. Our man Paul Knott again:
"Today might be the last time we hear this Swiss national anthem at a World Cup. They're running a competition to replace the current ditty, which one of the judging panel, Pascal Rothenbuehler, describes as "outdated, too martial, pathetic and soporific". He would prefer something "more uplifting, like Brazil's". But politician Peter Keller of the UKIP-alike SVP fears the contest will lead to "an anthem that is a cross between Conchita Wurst and DJ Bobo".
Maybe a cross-between "Le Marseillaise" and "Deutschland uber Alles" would be a better fit. No, perhaps not."
16.54 A license-fee vindicating moment from Alan Shearer: he's worked out that Shaqiri's hat-trick against Honduras was the first left-footed hat-trick EVER at the World Cup finals. Zing.
16.52 Here's what Messi will be coming up against...
16.45 Not sure if it's just my screen, but the Beeb seem to have flipped their studio furniture around. Gaz Linekar is now sitting on the left-handside, with his three wise men on the right. i am mucho discombobulated by all this
16.43 South American football aficiando Tim Vickery is on the screen over on BBC1. He's just relayed this brilliant quote from Arg coach Alejandro Sabella, worthy of Kafka himself: "One gram of brain weighs more than a kilo of muscle..."
All-muscle Xherdan Shaqiri will be hoping to prove him wrong.
16.40 We've already had more goals at this stage of the World Cup, than the the whole of the turgid affair that was South Africa. Here's how Babb have tried to sum them up...
16.30
16.20 Xherdan Shaqiri's thighs have been getting plenty of attention before this game. And just look at them. They look like they could crush a human skull in half. Time to raise your game, Alexis Sanchez...
16.10 My colleague, the esteemed Rob Bagchi has hollered over from the other side of the office, suggesting that Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria saves the Arg's from being an entirely solo effort:
A little harsh, Argentina being a one-man team. Di Maria has been great (at times), particularly when running from deep.
Can the Angel come up with any Kafka-esque brilliance tonight...? Ahem.
16.05 Guillem Balague has waded in on the Maradona v Messi debate. He suggested that unlike El Diego's brilliance in the 1986 World Cup, which was built around a solid Argentine set-up, Messi the only man carrying an otherwise unremarkable Albiceleste side. But he's still got his feet on the ground, has our Leo...
"June 24 saw Messi celebrate his 27th birthday, coincidentally at the same time as one of the cooks with the Argentine squad. Two cakes were provided and at Leo’s insistence the entire squad sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and presented them both with a cake. “First the chef”, Leo said.
He has now become a leader and with it has come a new maturity. Cards have taken the place of the constantly switched on PlayStation as a main form of relaxation and there’s now a mellowness that now accompanies the mercurial brilliance he displays on the pitch."
You can read his piece at length HERE.
16.00 TEAMS. HELLO...And we're as expected for both sides I think. The Argers looks very attacking with Higuain, Messi, Lavezzi and Di Maria. Aguero is replaced by the PSG man, after Sergio picked up an injury.
Argentina: Romero, Garay, Zabaleta, Gago, Di Maria, Higuain, Messi (c), Mascherano, Rojo, Fernandez, Lavezzi
Switzerland: Benaglio, Lichtsteiner, Inler (c), Xhaka, Behrami, Rodriguez, Mehmedi, Drmic, Djourou, Schar, Shaqiri
15.55 We're an hour away from kick-off in Sao Paulo. Thankfully the Telegraph is blessed with some mystic meg types and we've also roped Andy Townsend and For Me Clive to simulate exactly what will happen this evening.
15.50 Because sometimes Fifa do good stuff too...
15.40 It's been a World Cup propelled by one-man teams so far. Think: Neymar and Brazil, Robben and the Dutch, Muller and Germany (sort of), and perhaps the best example of all, Messi leading the Argentines. I'm honestly failing to recall much about this Argentine side other than the memory of Messi wheeling away in goal celebration after rescuing an otherwise average team from their doldrums x3.
But at least his efforts are being appreciated. And especially by one punter, whose etched the little man into this head, as seems to be the done thing for our heroes at this World Cup.
Iphones. You gotta love 'em.
15.20 Our World Cup Nation columnist Paul Knott makes the case for Switzerland. Yes he's probably a little bit biased, but here him out at the very least...
"Argentina are clear favourites for today’s second round match. But there is a case to be made for Switzerland.
"The Swiss strike force is exactly the sort to cause problems for the ponderous Argentinian defence, with Drmić, Mehmedi and Shaqiri seeking to break quickly and skilfully. They can all finish too and should ensure that the Albiceleste will need to score more than once to win.
"The downside for the Swiss is that, on the evidence of the tournament so far, that might not be too difficult for Messi & Co. But Switzerland's two main defensive failings need not necessarily be terminal today. The first is a rickety zonal marking system that makes them vulnerable to set-pieces crossed into the box. This is not Argentina’s attacking forte, though, and just a touch more concentration would solve the problem.
"The Swiss' other flaw in the first round was the frequency with which their midfielders, particularly Gökhan Inler and Valon Behrami, exposed the defence by giving the ball away in dangerous positions 30-40 metres away from their own goal. The upside is that this is not typical of them and, again, can be rectified with greater concentration - the word that has been repeated mantra-like by the Swiss players all week.
"The performances of Behrami and Inler, aptly described respectively in Le Matin this morning as the “heart and head” of the Swiss team, will be crucial to Switzerland’s chances. Coach Hitzfeld has been coy about how his team will handle Messi, “how will we stop him? You’ll see on matchday”. But others in the camp have suggested more openly that the plan will focus on cutting off the supply to him. Behrami and Inler will carry primary responsibility for implementing this strategy and for triggering the fast breaks for the forwards.
"Finally, there are the intangibles – or blind faith arguments, if you prefer. Hitzfeld, who retires as soon as the tournament is over, noted yesterday with a steely and convincing glint in his eye that “I am not expecting this to be my last game”.
"And this second round has seen a series of underdogs scare the life out of the established powers. Eventually, one of them will complete the job. The Swiss are asking themselves this morning 'why not us?'"
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