And so, when it came to it, when it seemed all was lost, Argentina’s hero appeared. His name, this time, was Marcos Rojo. With the Albiceleste on the verge of elimination, the scene before them horribly familiar, songs dying in thousands of throats and the final three minutes beginning, the Manchester United defender arrived to guide a wonderful volley into the corner and send them through to the last 16. Their progress comes at the cost of a Nigeria side who had come from a goal down to make it 1-1 and might have won, missing chances and appealing for a penalty. Instead, at the last, there was life for Argentina, delirious celebration, players in tears.

Play Video 0:55 Fans in Argentina celebrate 'great escape' against Nigeria in World Cup – video

Jorge Sampaoli once said that the World Cup is a revolver held against Lionel Messi’s head. Russian roulette is a game that must eventually end badly, but Argentina had hoped it would last longer than it looked like it was going to here. Javier Mascherano was the man who seemed to have pulled the trigger until Rojo rescued them. Messi had brilliantly given Argentina the lead but a penalty gifted Nigeria an equaliser, left them on the edge of elimination. For once, though, there was joy, relief – and it was not Messi who delivered it.

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Not only Messi, anyway. In the defeat against Croatia, Messi had only 49 touches. Here, he had almost surpassed that by half-time and two of them were especially sublime, creating a moment that will live in the memory almost as long as Rojo’s. Éver Banega sent a gorgeous pass from the halfway line to the edge of the area, where Messi controlled on his thigh and then, without letting the ball drop, took another touch with his left foot before thumping it into the top corner with his right.

He turned and ran, arms outstretched, towards the corner, slowed and sank to his knees. There, he pointed to the sky, neck tilted back, a look on his face that was almost manic. All around him, the noise. A release in blue and white that could only be matched the way it ultimately was – right at the end. In the stands Diego Maradona screamed and grabbed himself. Maybe there was life left in Argentina. Maybe, as Sampaoli had said, their World Cup could start here. As the second half progressed though, it looked like ending in despair.

Argentina had appeared at least. Banega’s pass made his previous absences even more baffling but it was not just that, it was the sense that someone out there could pass, control, play, that the structure convinced and anticipation grew. Particularly when Messi appeared, which he did often, the curtains no longer drawn. He slotted a superbly weighted ball through for Gonzalo Higuaín, who was unable to lift it over Francis Uzoho. Then Banega sent Ángel Di María rushing away behind Nigeria’s defence. He appeared to be clipped by Leon Balogun and, from the free-kick, Messi bent a shot against the far post.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lionel Messi opens the scoring with a stunning goal. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters

Argentina were swift, and there was support for Messi. They appeared in control, and yet there was always a certain vulnerability. Not just here, where Rojo’s extremely high challenge was a risk inside his area but also in Rostov, where Iceland played Croatia.

Croatia scored early in the second half to reduce that threat, but there is no threat greater than the one Argentina pose themselves and by the time Croatia’s goal had gone in Nigeria had already been gifted a route to the next round. Mascherano, a man with a startling lack of wisdom for one so old, all the more so in days of VAR, held Balogun at a corner. Cuneyt Cakir gave a penalty that Victor Moses calmly rolled in. The corner that led to it had come from three Argentina players getting in each other’s way.

It was tempting to see this as the embodiment of Argentina: anything Messi could do, his teammates could undo.

Not this time.

Desperation was always likely to see the return of familiar flaws. There was anxiety, nerves, and it showed. Sampaoli made changes, but when you do not have a structure, a framework, an idea, and when you do have fear, there is nothing really to fall back on. Except, of course, Messi. And everyone knows that. Sometimes it is worth looking elsewhere, but they are so reluctant to do that. At the very end, they did. The suffering, though, was unbearable. Sampaoli and Messi admitted they had never experienced anything like it.

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Again, the tension; again, the inaccuracy. Again, the willingness to pass responsibility – better than they passed the ball. And as they pushed, they could have been caught, like when Ahmed Musa escaped down the left, Odion Ighalo dummied and Wilfred Ndidi thumped over. There were more. Rojo lost the flight of Musa’s pass, watching it bounce off his arm to Ighalo who scuffed the shot. “A clear penalty,” Mikel John Obi called it, but the referee consulted the screen and disagreed. Next, Ighalo was clean through, only to strike Franco Armani’s leg. Then Etebo curled a free-kick into the side-netting.

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Just before those chances, Higuaín had sent his and Argentina’s best shot, their one shot it seemed, sailing into the stands. Behind him by the penalty spot, ready to shoot, was Messi, who watched his teammate take it from him. That felt like the end, a telling and sad finale. But with time slipping away, Gabi Mercado crossed and Rojo provided the finish. “You couldn’t write a better script,” Higuaín said. As Rojo ran and celebrated, Messi erupted, chased after him and leapt on to his back. This time, his teammate carried him.