68 min Chances. Zabaleta does what he does week in week out for City. He puts in a brilliant ball, which is just waiting to be buried by Higuain, but the Napoli man makes some horrible contact. Messi lets fly with a rocket that just skims the top of the bar.
66 min The Swiss make a change. Yellow carded Xhaka is off for Gelson Fernandes, formerly of Man City.
64 min The Argies have been camped in the Swiss third for the last ten minutes, but there's plenty of space for the Swiss to exploit should they want to. Argentina are backing off at every available opportunity when the red shirts try and break.
62 min SAVE KEEPS. Rojos again on the left hand side, puts in a peach for Higuain. It's on target but clawed away from the Swiss stopper. Finally, a little bit of quality on show.
60 min Oh. Angel Di Maria you did so well. He takes on his man at pace, needs a cross to finish it and tries an inexplicable and rather rubbish rabona. Goal kick. Poor from you, Kafka.
59 min CHANCE for Argentina. Messi has some green space around him, he finds Lavezzi who spots Rojos out wide. Cross or shot? Hard to tell but it was curling and forced the keeper into a save.
58 min Daniel Martinez is repping for the home Continent:
Team USA, Daniel?
55 min Argentina look to make some headroads in the wide areas. Lavezzi looks useful, but he doesn't have much support with him. The Swiss are snuffing it all out as they were in the first half. Snufftzerland.
53 min Paul Knott suggests labelling Shaqiri the 'Alpine Messi'. Based on the first 45 mins, I'd be more inclined to call Leo the Latin American Shaqiri maybe.
50 min Shaqiri has a pop at goal from a free-kick. The keeper is there. Or should be. He makes contact and then just fumbles and fumbles for an age. Switzerland come again, Drmic collects in the box. It's a difficult chance and he skies his shot. All the threat is Switzerland's so far.
48 min Ooh hello, booked Xhaka takes down Messi. The ref looks like he's going to brandish another card, but refrains. Free-kick Argentina. It's punched away and now, even this raucous crowd of Brazilians and Argentines sounds bored to death.
46 min CHANCE. Probably Argentina's best so far in this match. Messi wanders wide and whips in a ball off balance, in the box. Higuain looks to make contact but is mashalled by a Swiss defender all the way.
KICK-OFF
17.55 Some breaking transfer news while all that was going on: Chelsea have finally completed the signing of Diego Costa.Brilliant. Now let us never mention this ever again.
17.53 Small unfancied side puts the panics on favourites in competitive first half. Where have we heard that before...Switzerland will hope to avoid 'doing an Algeria'.
Meanwhile this guy's been the best player on the park
An 'absolute stinker' is Alan Hansen's verdict. The Swiss are cancelling out everything the Argers are throwing at them. But that said, they've had the best chances of the game and were it for some composure, Drmic would have put them in front.
Believe it or not Drmic was full of goals a few weeks ago. Hope he hasn't dried up at the wrong time. But he does tend to recover well after missing. Usually buries the next chance he gets.
HALF-TIME Almost no additional minutes at the end of the half.
44 min Lavezzi's had some success on the left hand side. He does well to make his way into the box, Messi is running into the box, but again, he's surrounded. Swiss discipline is seeing them through so far and they're a constant threat on the counter-attack with the pace of Shaqiri and poise of Inler.
42 min Some glimpses of what Argentina are capable of. Messi descends on the box, and he's surrounded by a throng of at least four Swiss players following his every move. Messi works it to Di Maria, but the eventual effort is poor.
39 min CHANCE. Oh no Drmic. The Swiss striker is through on goal, Romero decides to stay in his goal, and the eventual effort is nothing short of pathetic. He just casually lobs it in to the hands of the keeper. Should put his foot through it. Ottmar winces on the touchline.
38 min Neither midfields are getting the better of each other so far. A game of very very few chances. Made for Messi to wave his magic wand...
37 min
36 min Shaqiri's kick is double-punched away by the keeper. And we have our first card. Xhaka commits probably the 34th foul of the game, and the ref's had enough. He sees yellow.
35 min Shaqiri looks like he's been given a 'roving commission' for the Swiss too. He's popping up on the left, right and through the centre. Attracting plenty of fouls too. The man-fridge is bought down for a free-kick on the edge of the box.
33 min The Swiss are packing their box with red shirts at the first sign of an Argentine attack. Messi is thwarted after Di Maria cut inside from the right and attempted to get a shot away. The Brazilians are jeering every touch by the boys in stripes
31 min
30 min Now it's Argentina's first shot at goal. Lavezzi hits a relatively weak effort at goal. But suddenly, we're having chances galore. A brilliant corner is whipped across goal but Garay can't make any contact with it.
28 min CHANCE. Xhaka has a pop at the Argentine goal after a short corner evades the Arg's. It's hit straight at the stopper however. But finally, this game looks a little livlier.
26 min Higuain heads over from the dead-ball. Looked too far away from goal to ever threaten.
25 min Both teams nullyfying each other at the moment. It'll take a moment of individual brilliance from someone to break through all the cancelling-out. Messi...? Nearly, he tries to weedle his way through the Swiss defence but is crowded out. Di Maria is bought down again. Free-kick.
24 min Regular writer-inner, Nic Chimenti
22 min Blonde-tipped Behrami is hacked down by Di Maria. Switzerland try and advance but it's all very congested in the middle third. More fouls as the very rat-like Mascherano takes man rather than ball.
20 min Messi tries to get past the rats that are tailing him at every opportunity. But they defeat him this time, and fairly too as Rodriguez gets his toe on the ball and to safety.
19 min
17 min Some sloppy stuff from the Swiss as they lose it carelessly. Messi pounces and gets it to Zabaleta. But the City man can only find the keeper with his ball.
15 min Messi is challenged in the middle of the park. "They're like rats around him" pronounces Lawro.
14 min Argentina's Three Wise Men (...2.5?)
12 min Semi-chance for Arg. Messi gets away from Behrami, the former Hammer gives him time to play a ball into the box, but it's collected by the keeper. Nobody in stripes can meet it.
10 min Lavezzi takes another free-kick from the left, but again it's met with a Swiss head. Djourou's I think.
8 min Some nice attacking play from the Swiss. Some swift passing puts the creepers on the Argentine defence. They have a corner, it goes out to Gokhan Inler who swipes at it, 30 yards out. The Brazilian fans in Sao Paulo are going ape when the Swiss are on the ball. It's making for some very entertaining viewing.
6 min There's a melange of red and blue and white stripes in the box but the kick can't find anyone.
5 min Mark Lawrenson describes Messi's position on the pitch as a 'roving commission'. Di Maria tries to work it to the Roving Commissioner (RC) but is fouled by Lichsteiner. It was a cynical one, but no card shown. Free-kick in the final third.
3 min Di Maria runs down the channels to chase a ball. Throw-in for the Arg. Higuain tries to find a man in the box but the danger is clearer. Shaqiri is already in the thick of things. Had been fouled twice, and a foulee once.
1 min The Argers knock it around between themselves comfortably. Shaqiri looks like he's going down the middle rather than on the right.
KICK-OFF and we're off in Sao Paulo. Argentines outnumbering the Swiss by around 10,000 to 1 I reckon.
16.58Our teams ladies and gentleman...
16.56 The Argentine national anthem gets us going in Sao Paulo. Not particularly lyrical, more a series of woops and cheers but all good fun.
Some potentially sad news about the Swiss theme as it rings out. Our man Paul Knott again:
"Today might be the last time we hear this Swiss national anthem at a World Cup. They're running a competition to replace the current ditty, which one of the judging panel, Pascal Rothenbuehler, describes as "outdated, too martial, pathetic and soporific". He would prefer something "more uplifting, like Brazil's". But politician Peter Keller of the UKIP-alike SVP fears the contest will lead to "an anthem that is a cross between Conchita Wurst and DJ Bobo".
Maybe a cross-between "Le Marseillaise" and "Deutschland uber Alles" would be a better fit. No, perhaps not."
16.54 A license-fee vindicating moment from Alan Shearer: he's worked out that Shaqiri's hat-trick against Honduras was the first left-footed hat-trick EVER at the World Cup finals. Zing.
16.52 Here's what Messi will be coming up against...
16.45 Not sure if it's just my screen, but the Beeb seem to have flipped their studio furniture around. Gaz Linekar is now sitting on the left-handside, with his three wise men on the right. i am mucho discombobulated by all this
16.43 South American football aficiando Tim Vickery is on the screen over on BBC1. He's just relayed this brilliant quote from Arg coach Alejandro Sabella, worthy of Kafka himself: "One gram of brain weighs more than a kilo of muscle..."
All-muscle Xherdan Shaqiri will be hoping to prove him wrong.
16.40 We've already had more goals at this stage of the World Cup, than the the whole of the turgid affair that was South Africa. Here's how Babb have tried to sum them up...
16.30
16.20 Xherdan Shaqiri's thighs have been getting plenty of attention before this game. And just look at them. They look like they could crush a human skull in half. Time to raise your game, Alexis Sanchez...
16.10 My colleague, the esteemed Rob Bagchi has hollered over from the other side of the office, suggesting that Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria saves the Arg's from being an entirely solo effort:
Can the Angel come up with any Kafka-esque brilliance tonight...? Ahem.
16.05 Guillem Balague has waded in on the Maradona v Messi debate. He suggested that unlike El Diego's brilliance in the 1986 World Cup, which was built around a solid Argentine set-up, Messi the only man carrying an otherwise unremarkable Albiceleste side. But he's still got his feet on the ground, has our Leo...
"June 24 saw Messi celebrate his 27th birthday, coincidentally at the same time as one of the cooks with the Argentine squad. Two cakes were provided and at Leo’s insistence the entire squad sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and presented them both with a cake. “First the chef”, Leo said.
He has now become a leader and with it has come a new maturity. Cards have taken the place of the constantly switched on PlayStation as a main form of relaxation and there’s now a mellowness that now accompanies the mercurial brilliance he displays on the pitch."
You can read his piece at length HERE .
16.00 TEAMS. HELLO...And we're as expected for both sides I think. The Argers looks very attacking with Higuain, Messi, Lavezzi and Di Maria. Aguero is replaced by the PSG man, after Sergio picked up an injury.
Argentina: Romero, Garay, Zabaleta, Gago, Di Maria, Higuain, Messi (c), Mascherano, Rojo, Fernandez, Lavezzi
Switzerland: Benaglio, Lichtsteiner, Inler (c), Xhaka, Behrami, Rodriguez, Mehmedi, Drmic, Djourou, Schar, Shaqiri
15.55 We're an hour away from kick-off in Sao Paulo. Thankfully the Telegraph is blessed with some mystic meg types and we've also roped Andy Townsend and For Me Clive to simulate exactly what will happen this evening.
15.50 Because sometimes Fifa do good stuff too...
15.40 It's been a World Cup propelled by one-man teams so far. Think: Neymar and Brazil, Robben and the Dutch, Muller and Germany (sort of), and perhaps the best example of all, Messi leading the Argentines. I'm honestly failing to recall much about this Argentine side other than the memory of Messi wheeling away in goal celebration after rescuing an otherwise average team from their doldrums x3.
But at least his efforts are being appreciated. And especially by one punter, whose etched the little man into this head, as seems to be the done thing for our heroes at this World Cup.
Iphones. You gotta love 'em.
15.20 Our World Cup Nation columnist Paul Knott makes the case for Switzerland. Yes he's probably a little bit biased, but here him out at the very least...
"Argentina are clear favourites for today’s second round match. But there is a case to be made for Switzerland.
"The Swiss strike force is exactly the sort to cause problems for the ponderous Argentinian defence, with Drmić, Mehmedi and Shaqiri seeking to break quickly and skilfully. They can all finish too and should ensure that the Albiceleste will need to score more than once to win.
"The downside for the Swiss is that, on the evidence of the tournament so far, that might not be too difficult for Messi & Co. But Switzerland's two main defensive failings need not necessarily be terminal today. The first is a rickety zonal marking system that makes them vulnerable to set-pieces crossed into the box. This is not Argentina’s attacking forte, though, and just a touch more concentration would solve the problem.
"The Swiss' other flaw in the first round was the frequency with which their midfielders, particularly Gökhan Inler and Valon Behrami, exposed the defence by giving the ball away in dangerous positions 30-40 metres away from their own goal. The upside is that this is not typical of them and, again, can be rectified with greater concentration - the word that has been repeated mantra-like by the Swiss players all week.
"The performances of Behrami and Inler, aptly described respectively in Le Matin this morning as the “heart and head” of the Swiss team, will be crucial to Switzerland’s chances. Coach Hitzfeld has been coy about how his team will handle Messi, “how will we stop him? You’ll see on matchday”. But others in the camp have suggested more openly that the plan will focus on cutting off the supply to him. Behrami and Inler will carry primary responsibility for implementing this strategy and for triggering the fast breaks for the forwards.
"Finally, there are the intangibles – or blind faith arguments, if you prefer. Hitzfeld, who retires as soon as the tournament is over, noted yesterday with a steely and convincing glint in his eye that “I am not expecting this to be my last game”.
"And this second round has seen a series of underdogs scare the life out of the established powers. Eventually, one of them will complete the job. The Swiss are asking themselves this morning 'why not us?'"
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