Argentina improving, but it's nice to have Messi to call on

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6:45 AM ET

Argentina are in the process of being completed. Maybe it's a voyage of self- discovery. It's odd to say this when you've lost just one of your previous 39 internationals and you're in the last eight of the World Cup. There is a weird and unexpected fragility to this side and it showed against Australia on Saturday night. Lionel Messi is called upon when things aren't going as they should.

The stands at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium were filled with a sea of Albiceleste and they were cruising for most of the game.

Despite late Australia surge, Argentina is through.

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Then, with barely 15 minutes to go, substitute Craig Goodwin's hit-and-hope from the edge of the box rocketed off the back of Enzo Fernandez and looped into the net to make it 2-2. Five minutes later, the left-back almost achieved World Cup highlight reel immortality, with a ridiculous mazy run that saw him slither past four opponents and fire on goal, only for LisandroMartinez to somehow get a block in. A journeyman who has played for 10 different clubs in his career was playing in the Turkish second division last year. He clashed with Messi, who got in his face.

Some of Messi's stardust fell on him. It would have been Messi in a yellow shirt if he pulled it off, according to Australia's Graham Arnold.

A reminder that the World Cup can be a great leveller and that every moment on the pitch is an opportunity for a no-name to enter lore was given.

Argentina's coach said that two-nil would have been fair. That's sports. The game of football is about moments. There were times when you dominated and times when you suffered.

Argentina was woken by the scare. They could have scored more in the final minutes, with Messi and Lautaro both failing to score. But, again, deep in injury time, Garang Kuol, the youngest player to play in a World Cup knockout game in over 50 years, forced a save from the Panamanian keeper that would have leveled the game.

Things are supposed to unfold in a different way. Not when you are in control and pound for pound. That should give Argentina's boss something to ponder.

Argentina dominated the game, but only managed to get three shots on target, one of which was a gift from Mathew Ryan.

There is a lot of smoke. The game plan had worked in many ways. He thought that Australia would sit deep with two banks of four and that Argentina would have a lot of the ball. He went with Papu Gomez because he didn't want to go for Lautaro's north-south runs. Argentina was poking and prodding. When Messi scored for the first time in a World Cup knockout game, they were on their way.

The pace dropped after that. The possession of Argentines became sterile. Australia was content to keep things close and try to get an equalizing goal. With Gomez having an off day, it became obvious that this team isn't very creative. Messi dropped all the way in front of the back four to receive the ball in an attempt to conjure up some ideas.

This team needs to run ideas because they want in other areas. They don't press high to force turnovers, they don't have a good central forward to hold the ball up, and they don't have a good quarterback. There isn't much in the way of patterns of play either, in part because Messi is listed as a centre-forward on the tactical team sheet but, in fact, wandering wherever his genius takes him makes constructing such structured attacks hard. Messi and De Paul are the only two players in Argentina's front six who have started all four of the team's games so far.

Without the above, you have a limited arsenal: set pieces, mistakes, one-on-ones and, of course, Messi. The Netherlands are likely to offer a sterner test than Australia.

It's probably why he switched to a back three just four minutes into the second half, replacing Gomez with Lisandro and pushing Nahuel and Marcos up the pitch in an attempt to provide more width. It worked defensively to a point, but didn't add much to the attack.

There is good news. Some of it may be due to fatigue. They only had three days to prepare for the game. The Dutch will have six full days ahead of them. As disorganized as they looked at times, there seems to be an underlying belief in the team. It's important in a tournament setting, as anyone who remembers the side at Russia will tell you.

There are 26 players and I have faith in every one of them. Depending on the moment, they can help us.

It is something you hear a lot from coaches. It doesn't feel real except for Scaloni.

One of Messi's best World Cup performances was in an Argentina shirt. The recent success was predicated on the fact that Messi was a part of the machine, not the guy on his back. At times, he showed he can still lead the team. You can't expect him to do it all the time and he doesn't want him to have to do it in every game.

It's comforting to know that there's a Plan B when things aren't going well.