Defeat to Saudi Arabia was jarring. The opening half vs. Mexico was worrying. But not to fret, Argentina: Lionel Messi is still your savior.
The dream for Lionel Messi and Argentina, for now at least, lives on. Lionel Scaloni’s side will have to play an awful lot better than this if Messi is to win the World Cup at his fifth attempt. But the most important thing against Mexico on Saturday was simply to win, to get this World Cup campaign up and running and to claim three points that mean victory over Poland in four days will secure progress to the last 16.