In Buenos Aires, the semi-final achievements of the boy they call 'The Spider' were being compared on Wednesday to those of Mario Kempes, in Argentina's ticker tape World Cup final, 44 years ago.
Kempes composed himself to strike home a bouncing ball in the chaos of the Dutch box and send Argentina 2-1 up at Estadio Monumental, en route to the trophy in 1978.
It was a similar challenge inside the Lusail Stadium for Julian Alvarez: a ball which, he related in the aftermath, was 'bouncing badly' as he ran through Croatia's midfield.
The 22-year-old's description conveyed a sense of how he, just like Kempes, was desperately trying to hold it together in the furious, history-making moments before laying it into the net.