Argentina’s looming problem — two straight 3-2 wins expose a defensive weakness

Argentina has advanced to the quarterfinals, but issues are already coming to light. Their three group-stage matches ended in three wins with only 1 goal conceded, which looked flawless—yet after entering the knockout rounds, they had to pull off two consecutive narrow 3-2 victories over Cape Verde and Egypt.

Argentina’s biggest weakness at the moment is this: when facing a dense, well-set defense, their attacking options are too limited, and their efficiency in breaking through is lacking. At the same time, their back line is made up mostly of veteran players, so the speed at which they turn and track back is on the slow side. Once the full-backs push forward to join the attack, they leave enormous gaps behind, making it all too easy for opponents to target them with rapid counterattacks.

Switzerland’s Embolo is extremely fast, and it’s very likely he will be the first to find the breakthrough by exploiting the weakness of Lima and Romero, who are slow to turn. In the 2014 World Cup Round of 16, Switzerland held on for 118 minutes, forcing Argentina—who had a peak Messi—into having no answers until the very last moment, when Di María scored the winner. Today’s Swiss team has upgraded comprehensively on both offense and defense. Argentina must under no circumstances take the situation lightly. Ahead of the match, Scaloni said: “Switzerland is one of the best defensive teams in this tournament, and we must find a way to break down their dense defense.”

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