Amid Argentina’s Drama, Lionel Messi’s Brilliance Emerges

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — High in the stands, Diego Maradona raised his eyes to the sky, his arms in supplication, and mumbled two words: Gracias, Dios.

Not out of the blue, Maradona distinguished heavenly mediation exactly when Argentina had required it most. This time, however, it had been a sacred trinity, instead of a hand of God, on the field before him: the principal contact to pad the ball; the second to move it into position; and the third to clear it past Francis Uzoho, Nigeria's goalkeeper, and send a country into delight. Lionel Messi, again, had conveyed salvation.

However, Argentina's deliverance couldn't be that basic, obviously. Its crusade in Russia is just two or three weeks old, in straightforward ordered terms, yet it has been directed against such a fever pitch of feeling that all included must feel as if they have been at Bronnitsy, the group's preparation base, for a considerable length of time.

There have been gossipy tidbits about rebellions and claims of upsets, spilled WhatsApp messages, pointed remarks and arranged compromises, confusing strategies and mixed up group determinations, innumerable investigations and allegations, and exhaustive criminological examinations of the country's spirit. It would not have been ideal for tonight to have been clear. It must be intricate and emptying and euphoric, a hour and a half live scene of an endless telenovela. It must be particularly, obviously, Argentine.