At school, Julian Alvarez never missed his math class. Whether it was his match the next day, or he had just returned from a long tournament, he never left Luciana Alvarengue’s math lessons in Calchin, a small Argentine town in the province of Córdoba. “He had the gift of solving problems, in his own way, not always the way it was in the textbook,” she told Argentine outlet Sports Pulse last year.
Argentina had a problem in Kansas. They were unable to overcome Switzerland’s wall of red, compounded by the injustice of a red card on their forward Brielle Embolo, which upset the balance of the game. Down to ten men, the Swiss fought a battle they always wanted to lose. Yet they tried, taking the game as deep as possible, much to the chagrin of Lionel Messi and his troops, who faced reviving emotions. Both teams were emotionally and physically drained before Alvarez found the perfect equation.
Also read | The making of the ‘Spider’: In Messi’s shadow, how Alvarez became Argentina’s hero
There were only eight minutes left until the tiebreaker. The game was played on an endless and directionless loop in Switzerland’s box. Alvarez suddenly found the ball at his feet, on the left side of the field, from a pass from Manuel Lopez on the border of the penalty area. The box was full of red shirts willing to shed blood and blue and white striped men who wanted to end the match. Heartwarming drama, without the frenetic vicissitudes of fate Argentina longs for. Alvarez finished his day’s labor. He found himself in an unusual place. His eyes lit up, he took two touches and let the ball slide off his right foot into the top right corner.
The improbability of the target can be measured by the number of people in the box. Five Argentines and eight Swiss plus goalkeepers. How the ball ended up in the net and untouched is not a mystery, but rather a reflection of Alvarez’s gifts, the man he said was Argentina’s figurehead after Messi’s departure. There is math in the shot, the weight of the shot, the angles made to measure it, revolutions, curves and parabolas, and drop.
He applied all the principles that mathematics and physics can teach like drag force, equation of motion, Magnus force. He could also feel the pull of gravity. He collapsed to the ground when all his comrades climbed on top of him. When the game resumed, he was distracted by the frenzy and chaos around him. Messi doesn’t kiss the forehead every day, as if handing down an inheritance. A Lautaro Martinez goal would adorn the tally, but Alvarez’s goal killed the game. Martinez flogged the dead horse. At this signal, the crowd began to shout: “El que no salta es un ingle.” He who does not jump is an Englishman. A semi-final clash with England, one of their historic rivals, cannot wait.
Argentina’s Julian Alvarez (9) scores his team’s second goal during their World Cup quarterfinal match against Switzerland in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Among all the moving objects, the most important thing is how Alvarez finds the path of the ball. Vision and clarity. A flattering shot would have been bombed into traffic; Had the ball curled more, the keeper would have saved it. If the ball had been hit with more force, it would have grazed the bar and eventually not rolled. The goal was poetic yet scientific. Or perhaps, it would have been scientifically poetic.
Story continues below this ad
The 26-year-old is regarded as the brightest spark of the post-Messi era. In Qatar, he revived Argentina’s lead after Saudi Arabia’s shock. With Martínez off, he made things more fluid by pressing, running down the wing, crossing and being generally involved in the build-up. Still, you wonder why Alvarez hasn’t taken the next big leap, why he has “no” Messi from his goal-scoring duties, why he and his teammates are waiting for Messi to inspire. Like a big brother in the family, Messi has doted on him. Perhaps this is the ignition point.
Even though Messi went one match without scoring, he continued to dominate. He scored the first goal on Alexis McAllister’s header from his corner. His right-footed shot bounced awkwardly in front of goal; He created six chances and four shots. Such a day is an ominous sign for Argentina. In that, other parts of the Argentina machine have so far started to function smoothly in time for the semi-finals.
Argentina vs Switzerland: As it happened
The Swiss game, despite their numerical superiority, was a grind. It was their second game in the knockouts that went to extra time. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said after the game that they were lucky. “We suffered today. We knew it was a tough team and they really put us in trouble. We couldn’t get out of certain situations. The truth is luck was on our side today, that’s the reality, because they sent a player and that’s when the team pushed forward,” he said.
Embolo will be fired again. The incident happened two minutes after Dan Ndoye equalized. Two minutes later, the referee showed Leandro Paredes a yellow card for a difficult challenge on Briel Embolo. But VAR advised the referee to watch the on-field monitor for what is cinematically called a check for “mistaken identity”. It turned out that the referee had carded the wrong player. Not only was Paredes relieved, Embolo, who was already on the card, picked up another yellow for simulation. He listened to the marching orders in tearful protest.
Story continues below this ad
But adversity breeds courage. Switzerland fought bravely, throwing bodies and building their will to repel Argentina’s relentless attacks. They are thanks to Gregor Kobel, who, like his predecessor Diego Benaglio, was as impenetrable as his predecessor, Diego Benaglio, who made a stunning save in 2014 before being breached in the 118th minute in the round of 16. Angel de Maria was the savior then; Alvarez was a hero at Kansas. In his hometown, Calchin, Luciana Alvarengue would be a proud teacher. Her student has drawn a sphere that conforms to the laws of geometry. And rare symmetry and important goals.