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BRASILIA, Brazil — Gonzalo Higuain’s first goal of this World Cup sent Argentina into the semifinals on Saturday with a 1-0 win over a disappointing Belgium.

Argentina, which hadn’t advanced past the World Cup quarterfinals since 1990, put in its best performance so far in the tournament, controlling the match after Higuain’s eighth minute goal.

The Napoli striker fired home Angel Di Maria’s deflected pass just inside the area, beating Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with a low shot to the far corner of the net.

Higuain came close to making it 2-0 in the second half when his shot smashed into the crossbar. Lionel Messi missed a chance to score his fifth goal of the tournament in stoppage time when Courtois stopped his shot.

Belgium lacked the creativity to find a way past Argentina’s defensive line, and created few clear chances apart from a pair of headers by Kevin Mirallas and Marouane Fellaini.

Argentina’s next opponent will be the winner of the last quarterfinal between the Netherlands and Costa Rica, who were playing later Saturday in Salvador.

Argentina was knocked out in the quarterfinals in the previous two World Cups, both times by Germany. The last time it reached the semifinal stage was 24 years ago in Italy, when Diego Maradona led the team to the final, which it lost 1-0 to West Germany.

In Brasilia on Saturday, Argentina never lost control even after Di Maria — the team’s most influential player in Brazil aside from Messi — was substituted by Enzo Perez in the 33rd. The winger had appeared to hurt his right leg while taking a shot five minutes earlier.

Argentina took the lead when Di Maria picking up a pass from Messi, cut in from the right and tried to find fullback Pablo Zabaleta, but his pass bounced off Jan Vertonghen into Higuain’s path.

The Napoli striker avenged himself for a string of mediocre performances in Brazil and was Argentina’s best player before being substituted by Fernando Gago in the 81st.

SALVADOR, Brazil — The Netherlands starts as firm favourites for their World Cup quarter-final against Costa Rica on Saturday but will take no thing for granted when itmeets the tournament’s surprise package, who has already seen off three former world champions.

After finishing above England, Italy and Uruguay in Group D, Costa Rica is seeking to become the first team from the CONCACAF region, the confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean nations, to reach the World Cup semi-finals since the United States at the first edition in 1930.

The Netherlands had a last-gasp escape in the previous round, scoring twice in the final moments to beat Mexico, and forward Arjen Robben says his side will not be taking their opponents lightly at the Fonte Nova arena in Salvador.

“Costa Rica has a very good team, it has already proved that in its group, which was very tough,” he told Fifa.com.

“They’ve been really impressive and we’ll have to prepare very well if we’re going to beat them.”

Despite Costa Rica’s impressive performances, many observers believe the Netherlands has too much firepower for them after scoring 12 goals in their four wins in Brazil so far.

Robben, Wesley Sneijder and captain Robin van Persie present a fearsome attacking trio and showed how invaluable experience is when they did not panic despite being on the cusp of elimination against Mexico.

However, they must replace hard man Nigel de Jong in midfield after he suffered a groin injury that will likely keep him out for the rest of the World Cup.

While coach Louis van Gaal has played his cards close to his chest, speculation continues on whether Daley Blind will be moved from left back to central midfield or Jonathan de Guzman or Jordy Clasie come in for De Jong.

Costa Rica must contend with the absence of utility back Roy Miller and the suspended Oscar Duarte but hope goalkeeper Keylor Navas, hero of their shootout triumph over Greece in the previous round, will recover from the shoulder injury that curtailed his ability to train this week.

The performance of their defensive unit has been a major part of their success in Brazil. Costa Rica has conceded only twice at the tournament — one of the goals from a penalty.

But any chance of success probably rests on the attacking prowess of Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz, who is well known to the Dutch having spent two seasons at Twente Enschede and the last six months on loan at PSV Eindhoven.

“Bryan is very quick and sharp, we’ll have to watch him carefully,” Dutch defender Ron Vlaar told reporters.

RIO DE JANEIRO — A European presence in the World Cup semifinals is assured as Germany and France meet at the Maracana on Friday, looking to shrug off stumbling wins in the second round that exposed frailties in both teams.

Contesting a quarter-final for the ninth straight World Cup, the Germans will start as slight favourites because of their vast experience in major tournaments but with doubts surrounding a slow, porous defence that was breached repeatedly in the 2-1 extra-time victory over Algeria on Monday.

If goalkeeper Manuel Neuer hadn’t produced the kind of sweeper display that German greats Franz Beckenbauer and Lothar Matthaus would have been proud of, Joachim Loew’s side could have been on the end of a real shock.

The French also left it late in the last 16, scoring twice in the final 11 minutes to beat Nigeria 2-0 in a gritty performance that failed to match the swashbuckling attacking exhibitions they put on in the group stage.

France was thrust among the tournament favourites after scoring a combined eight goals against Switzerland and Honduras. Yet, Didier Deschamps’ inexperienced team played within themselves against Nigeria, perhaps struggling under the weight of lofty expectations.

Deschamps counts France as the underdog.

“Don’t forget that in the last two competitions, Germany have reached the semifinals so it counts for something,” he said, referring to the 2010 World Cup and the European Championship in 2012.

“They’re used to playing at the highest level and have experience of playing at this stage of a competition. All of the German players play in big clubs, a lot of them play for Bayern Munich.”

Still, after starting up in Brazil with a 4-0 victory over Portugal, Germany’s displays have been far from convincing. Nerves are beginning to show and Loew — under pressure to finally win a title in his fourth major tournament — has been on the defensive.

“Should I now be disappointed that we are in the last eight?” he asked, rhetorically, on Tuesday. “There are such games in every tournament when you need the will power to advance.”

Defence undoubtedly is Loew’s chief concern, although the probable return of Mats Hummels at centre back after illness will make up for the loss of Shkodran Mustafi for the rest of the tournament with a left hamstring injury.

There may also be a change in the centre of France’s defence, with Mamadou Sakho available again after a hamstring problem that caused him to miss the Nigeria game. However, Laurent Koscielny had a good display as the replacement, helping the French to a third clean sheet in four games in Brazil, and would be unlucky to lose his place.

As part of a revamped squad under Deschamps, the likes of Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann are playing at their first major tournament and being exposed to football’s highest stage for the first time. The coach, though, remains unperturbed.

“There is a form of insouciance with the younger players,” Deschamps said, “they’re full of life, that’s what you expect from a younger player. But it’s also a question of quality.”

Any time France and Germany meet, memories are revived of their famous clash in the World Cup semifinals in 1982 when West Germany came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 and win the shoot-out. In that game, West Germany goalkeeper Toni Schumacher rushed out of his area and broke the jaw of Patrick Battiston with a feet-first tackle that was not punished.

West Germany also beat France in the World Cup in 1986, 2-0 in the semifinals, but France has won four of its six matches since German reunification in 1990.

The quarter-final in Rio de Janeiro offers another chance for veteran Germany striker Miroslav Klose to break the World Cup scoring record of 15 goals that he currently shares with Brazil great Ronaldo. Klose is likely to start on the bench behind Thomas Mueller.

As for the French attack, Deschamps must decide whether to start with Griezmann in a three-man attack after his game-changing substitute appearance against Nigeria. Olivier Giroud struggled in that match and could be dropped for Griezmann, allowing Karim Benzema to play as a central striker.

Germany has not played well at times in the World Cup and the weaknesses are being critically analysed and discussed internally, assistant coach Andreas Koepke said on Wednesday.

“Obviously not everything has been ideal so far and we’re aware of that,” Koepke told reporters when asked about the withering criticism back home and in the media about the team’s struggles against Algeria, the United States, Ghana.

“And we don’t beat around the bush about that in our internal discussions,” he added.

“These things are being addressed internally because we know if we don’t address them we clearly won’t advance further.”

Koepke said he had ignored the critical media coverage as the three-time world champions have struggled since a dazzling 4-0 opening win over Portugal.

“Believe it or not, I don’t read any newspapers and that’s a good thing,” said Koepke.

“As far as all the experts out there and their opinions are concerned: if I talked to five experts, I’d get five different opinions about what the line-up should be.

“We have to decide what’s best. We can’t let ourselves be pressured. We’ve already got enough pressure on us.”

Koepke, who added the players have enjoyed seeing television pictures of huge public viewing gatherings back in Germany, said the criticism being heaped on the team was due largely to the extremely poor first half against Algeria.

CUIABA, Brazil — It was an odd place to find three international footballers on the eve of a crucial World Cup game, inside a small hair salon located on the forecourt of a gas station on the outskirts of a remote Brazilian city.

But there they were, Nigeria stars Emmanuel Emenike, Kenneth Omeruo and Ahmed Musa, eager for a new style and colour touch-ups for the big match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“They are very vain,” said Dirce Cardoso, owner of the Salao de Beleza Aeroporto in southern Cuiaba. “They wanted to be pampered.”

So Cardoso obliged. She cancelled her other appointments, closed the salon and gave the footballers the full VIP treatment. Two of them got a Mohican and two of them had their hair dyed black.

Total cost: $71 — and Cardoso was even treated to a ticket for the match.

It seems like we have a new addition to the footballer’s pre-match routine — healthy meal, massage, a few media interviews... and a new haircut.

This World Cup has been a tournament full of goals, surprise results and breathtaking skills, but also some of the wackiest, most outrageous hairstyles you’ll find in sports.

Rat tails, mohicans, dreadlocks, braids, bleached blond, outlandish side-partings, the “Afro” — you name a hairstyle, and at least one player is certain to have had it. And it’s been the talk of Twitter during games.

Footballers appear to be preoccupied with their hair like never before.

“I found out that my haircut got quite a lot of people talking on social media,” France defender Mathieu Debuchy told The Associated Press, sporting a hairstyle that can best be described as shaved on the sides with of lizard-shaped comb-over/side-parting.

“So much the better if people talk and communicate about it. I feel good this way, I like it and that’s the main thing, no?”

Ever-changing hairstyles used to be domain of David Beckham, who experimented with the shaved head, the cornrows, the Fauxhawk and bleach-blond look, among others, in the blink of an eye. Now everyone is at it, and the styles are getting bolder and bolder.

Take Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, for example. The world player of the year had a different hairstyle for each of his three games at the World Cup — for the second, against the United States, he had a zig-zag-style engraving in the right side of his head.

Similarly, Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan had a blond No. 3 dyed into the side of his black hair to represent the number of his jersey that had been handed to him by his brother, Baffour.

“It’s my favourite number,” Gyan said. “It’s a powerful number.”

The Mohican is becoming increasingly popular among players and has been best demonstrated at the World Cup by enigmatic Italy striker Mario Balotelli, France midfielder Paul Pogba and Portugal’s Raul Meireles.

In fact, Meireles’ overall appearance has been one of the sights of the tournament, complementing his wacky hair with a bushy beard and tattoos that appear to cover almost all his body.

When Meireles and US midfielder Kyle Beckerman — famous for his messy dreadlocks — collided in a challenge during their teams’ group-stage match, it was more a clash of the haircuts. US Football posted on Twitter: “Dreads vs. Mohawk/Beard” with a photo.

A combination of boredom, vanity, football being increasingly fashionable and maybe even the influence of sponsors means that players are becoming more daring with their styles.

“I love that they all have their unique styles,” Cardoso said. “They all are very modern. I wouldn’t choose one over the other.

“This year, everything looks kind of strange. But it’s normal. It’s about being young and different. It’s beautiful.”

Here are five of the craziest hairstyles at the World Cup:

Rodrigo Palacio, Argentina: With his shaved head except for a rat’s tail at the back, Palacio arguably has the most jaw-dropping haircut at the World Cup.

Raul Meireles, Portugal: His Mohawk has been compared to the one sported by Robert De Niro in “Taxi Driver” His thick beard and all-over body tattoos add to his scary-looking appearance.

Marouane Fellaini, Belgium: The king of the football “Afro” but maybe not for much longer. Fellaini has vowed to chop it all off if Belgium wins the World Cup.

Kyle Beckerman, United States: Let his curly hair go wild after leaving home some years ago. Now Beckerman looks like the US squad’s very own Bob Marley.

Paul Pogba, France: Not satisfied with having a bleached line through his Mohawk, Pogba also has two bleached stripes on the shaved sides.

RIO DE JANEIRO — The World Cup still has Lionel Messi. Tim Howard is heading home despite a heroic display of goalkeeping.

A moment of Messi inspiration helped lift an unconvincing Argentina to a 1-0 win over Switzerland after extra time in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, creating the goal scored by Angel Di Maria in the 118th minute.

Howard’s stunning shot-stopping performance could not stop the Americans falling to a 2-1 extra-time loss against favoured Belgium that had a pulsating finale.

The veteran ‘keeper repelled most of Belgium’s 27 shots on target but was finally beaten by Kevin De Bruyne in the 93rd and substitute Romelu Lukaku in the 105th.

“He had an absolutely amazing match tonight and you just have to give him the biggest compliments in the world,” US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.

Teenager Julian Green’s 107th-minute goal sparked concerted American pressure but they could not find a leveller to force a penalty shoot-out.

Argentina now faces Belgium in a quarter-finals line-up that is a sweep of the eight group winners. They start Friday with France vs. Germany in the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Anticipation was soured a little Tuesday by fixing allegations from earlier matches at the World Cup.

Cameroon’s football federation said it would investigate after the team’s integrity was questioned by a German magazine. Der Spiegel claimed convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal correctly predicted in online exchanges with a reporter that Cameroon would lose 4-0 to Croatia and a player would be sent off before halftime.

“Yes, I have been told about this but let them do their work on this investigation,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter told reporters in Brazil on Tuesday.

Hours later, Perumal’s biographers issued a statement on his behalf denying all allegations.

Howard’s heroics in goal topped Messi in the doubleheader which closed second round.

After Messi scored in each of Argentina’s three group matches, Switzerland almost made good on its promise to shut down the four-time FIFA Player of the Year.

The Swiss certainly had the best first-half chances in Sao Paulo, created by their own mini-Messi, the equally tiny, powerful and left-footed forward Xherdan Shaqiri.

First, Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero stretched his left foot to block Granit Xhaka’s low shot, then stood up to gather a weak chipped shot by Josip Drmic.

“They had two clear chances and after that the match was ours,” Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said.

When Messi threatened, his scything volley skimmed over the Swiss crossbar and a low shot was parried by ‘keeper Diego Benaglio.

A shoot-out loomed until Messi broke free of pursuing Swiss defenders. He found Di Maria on the left side of the penalty box for a sweeping left-foot shot beyond Benaglio’s dive.

Argentina was then shaken in stoppage time when a close-range header by substitute Blerim Dzemaili hit the base of Romero’s right hand post. The rebound struck Dzemaili’s knee and went wide.

In Salvador, Howard was the US saviour from the first minute in a match of steadily rising tension on a warm, stamina-sapping evening.

A sprawling block to deny Divock Origi opened a duel with the teenage Belgian forward throughout regulation time.

Origi hit the crossbar with a header in the 56th minute and drew saves from one-on-one chances in the 71st and 85th minutes. Howard saved perhaps his best to keep out a Kevin Mirallas shot in the 76th.

In extra time, De Bruyne took advantage of chaos in the US defence to slide a shot past Howard’s dive. That chance was created by Lukaku’s fresh burst of energy and the striker — Howard’s teammate at Everton last season — powered in a second goal that seemed to seal the match.

Yet Green’s goal lifted tired legs and Clint Dempsey almost levelled the match when a neat free-kick routine left him eight metres from goal. Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois smothered Dempsey’s shot and sent the Americans out at the last-16 stage for the second straight World Cup.

Meanwhile in Rome, that goal from an Angel rewarded the faith of Pope Francis.

The first Pope from Argentina is a noted football fan — even meeting Messi and FIFA President Sepp Blatter last year — and the Vatican embraced the spirit of a clash against a country which has for centuries provided the Pontifical Swiss Guard.

A cartoon posted on the Vatican’s Twitter showed the pontiff wearing a blue and white Argentina scarf over his white cassock, watching on glumly as beer-swilling soldiers watch the match on television.

Switzerland’s defeat ended the career of its veteran German coach, who promised to retire after the tournament.

Hitzfeld’s farewell match kicked off hours after his 81-year-old brother, Winfried, died in a hospital in Basel, Switzerland.

“It was a great honour working for Switzerland,” said Hitzfeld. “I’m therefore proud to say goodbye to Switzerland with heart full of emotions.”

At age 35, Howard might have been playing for the last time at a World Cup, in his third tournament.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Howard said. “I don’t think we could have given it more.”

SAO PAULO — Angel Di Maria scored deep into extra time to give Argentina a 1-0 win over Switzerland and seal the South Americans a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Tuesday.

After a tense 0-0 draw at 90 minutes and a scoreless first period of extra time, Lionel Messi broke quickly and released Di Maria, who swept the ball home before wheeling away in delight.

Blerim Dzemaili almost saved the Swiss when his header hit the post but Argentina held on and now face a quarter-final with either Belgium or the United States, who play later on Tuesday.

Argentina had leaned heavily on Messi throughout the group stage, the number 10 scoring four of their six goals, and the forward was at the heart of their best work in the first half, prompting and prodding in front of the massed Swiss defence.

Switzerland, who was looking to return to the quarter-finals for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1954, went closest to scoring in a tight first half when impish playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri released Josip Drmic through on goal.

The tall striker shaped to shoot but wasted the opportunity with an ill-advised chip and Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero gathered comfortably.

With the score tied at 0-0 at halftime, the game then opened up in the second period as Argentina began to grab the momentum, and its blue and white clad fans brought the Corinthians arena to life, chanting and bouncing in unison.

The warning signs were flashing for Switzerland when Gonzalo Higuain went close with a header before Messi drove into the box and forced Diego Benaglio into a great save.

However, despite camping out in the Swiss half for long sections of the second half Argentina could not make the breakthrough and the 90 minutes ended scoreless.

Argentina looked the stronger side in extra time when Swiss legs began to tire and, just when it looked like Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson would call for a penalty shootout, Di Maria curled the ball past Benaglio to seal the late triumph.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — A bullet from Bastian Schweinsteiger.

A prodigious effort from Philipp Lahm.

An on-target header from Thomas Mueller.

Algeria's unsung goalkeeper stopped everything that came his way for 91 minutes. And even when three-time champion Germany finally scored in extra time and went on to win 2-1 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, Rais M'Bolhi was not at fault.

That was why Rais — which means leader in Arabic — was voted man of the match on Monday.

"We were ready," said M’Bolhi, who plays for Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia. "No one believed we would reach this stage."

It was the first time Algeria had reached the knockout phase after three previous appearances at the World Cup.

"We've entered the history of Algerian football," M’Bolhi said.

M’Bolhi, it should be remembered, had shined before at the World Cup.

Four years ago in South Africa, he kept a clean sheet during a 0-0 draw with England and conceded only one goal in two matches played — a stoppage-time score from Landon Donovan in a 1-0 loss to the United States.

Against Germany, M’Bolhi kept Algeria alive with save after save until the Germans finally broke through the northern African squad's weary defenders.

Fourteen minutes in, M’Bolhi stopped a blistering long-range effort from Schweinsteiger. In the 55th, Lahm unleashed a hard shot that an outstretched M’Bolhi pushed wide with his fingertips.

And in the 80th minute, M’Bolhi blocked a close-range header from Mueller, who had scored nine goals in his opening nine World Cup matches.

In all, M’Bolhi faced 22 shots, 16 of them on target.

"I'm not quite sure what we lacked," M’Bolhi said. "Eventually we conceded two goals. I don't know. We felt there was something to be done even though we were playing a great team like Germany."

If needed, Manuel Neuer can be a sweeper.

Often abandoned by his blundering defence, the Germany goalkeeper had to turn to unorthodox methods to save Germany from a stunning defeat against underdog Algeria at the World Cup.

Neuer was beaten once but Algeria's goal came as extra time ran out, too late to threaten Monday's 2-1 victory that sent the Germans to the World Cup quarter-finals for the ninth straight time.

"In the regular 90 minutes, we kept a blank sheet," Neuer said.

Only just, and only thanks to Neuer.

The Bayern Munich keeper made some fine saves on the line but his rushes far out of the penalty area, clearing the ball with his feet and even his head, had the fans on the edge of their seats.

His risky exits, however, are nothing new.

"I haven't changed my style," Neuer said. "I often play like that in Bayern or the national team."

He hasn't always been successful, but against Algeria he made no wrong move.

"Manuel was excellent, especially how he dealt with those long balls that were deep and dangerous," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "He cleared them all at the last second and that's his great contribution today."

Germany fans must have momentarily stopped breathing when Neuer ran out of the box to take over as the right back and foil Algeria's most dangerous forward, Islam Slimani, in the ninth minute.

In the 28th minute, Neuer rushed out to clear before Sofiane Feghouli got to the ball. And in the 71st, he raced out to head away a dangerous ball in front of Slimani.

Then there was a stunning save against Feghouli in the 89th minute that could have been Algeria's ticket to the quarter-finals.

But not with Neuer in, or even out, of goal.

RECIFE, Brazil –– Costa Rica proved on Sunday they were not just an exciting attacking team but could also defend when they knocked Greece out of the World Cup 5-3 on penalties after playing with 10 men for more than an hour.

The Central Americans took a page out of Greece’s book and beat the Europeans at their own ugly defensive game, matching them tackle for tackle and relying on several superb saves by man-of-the-match goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

The Greeks, playing in the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time, found themselves in the unusual position of having to attack as Costa Rica lured them into a false sense of security.

Long the underdogs at international tournaments, the Greeks took the bait, hook, line and sinker and Costa Rica proceeded to pick-pocket their ticket to the last eight for the first time with a disciplined defensive performance.

The Central Americans looked nothing like the sprightly aggressive team which beat former World Cup winners Italy and Uruguay in the group stage to progress as winners.

They relinquished possession and with lone forward Joel Campbell having to endure constant crunching tackles by the rugged Greek defenders, they were content to soak up pressure before hitting them on the break.

With the Greeks lured out of their defensive shell for the first time in years knowing that one goal could be enough to decide the match, Costa Rica struck when captain Bryan Ruiz scored after a fine move down the left wing.

They were reduced to 10 men when Oscar Duarte was sent off after a second booking but kept the Greeks at bay until a last-gasp equaliser sent the game into extra-time at 1-1.

There “Los Ticos” did exactly what Greece had been doing against stronger opponents for years, letting them come forward while waiting to strike on the counter.

They held on even as Greece coach Fernando Santos brought in two more forwards to finish the game in extra time and Navas saved their skin on several occasions.

He then stopped a penalty in the shootout to complete Costa Rica’s most memorable footballing moment which was undoubtedly not their prettiest.

With the prospect of facing attacking Netherlands in the quarter-finals, football fans around the world are relishing the clash and rejoicing that Greece were not the party-poopers yet again.

SALVADOR, Brazil –– Mexico defender Rafa Marquez stuck his foot out and Netherlands winger Arjen Robben went down for an injury-time penalty that took his team into the World Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win.

Did Robben dive or was he fouled by Marquez?

Or — to ask the fashionable question that evades the issue of whether it was actually a foul –– was there “contact”?

If there was contact, was it the result of the Mexican’s movement or Robben’s ability to connect with the defender?

Those are the judgments Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca had to make in the final seconds of an intense game played in baking heat in Fortaleza with a last-eight place on the line.

Who would be a referee?

Of course, the partisan took predictable positions on the incident but it was hard to find consensus among the neutrals.

It does not help that Robben has dived frequently in the past and had been clearly looking for a penalty in this game.

But then the Dutch could argue, with some justification, that he should have had a spot kick earlier in the game and also highlight how, not long before the penalty, he had skipped over a lunging Marquez as he tried, in vain, to score.

Of course, it could be pointed out that what previously happened should have no bearing whatsoever on Proenca’s evaluation of the incident.

Risk ‘contact’  

Critics would say Marquez was reckless or naive to stick out his foot with Robben moving away from goal, leaving Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to score the spot kick and put the Dutch through.

But the question now being asked is: Has the game reached the stage where a defender is not allowed to even attempt a tackle in the penalty area because it may risk “contact” that would justify a penalty kick?

The answer to the last question is yes, a defender, in modern football, cannot risk contact with an opponent in the penalty area because if it results in a fall, even an embellished one, the referee will probably give a penalty.

In the NBA it is called “drawing the foul” and is universally accepted, but modern football has not found the vocabulary for it nor the acceptance of the “dive after contact”.

The crucial difference is that in basketball the punishment for such fouls is a couple of free-throws with two points available in a game with a total of about 200 points scored.

In football, “drawing the foul” can — and does — decide the outcome.

Video technology is often presented as the solution for most refereeing problems but it offers little help in these cases.

When you listen to the modern professional player talk about such incidents they will accept that a player has “made the most of it” by falling but if there was some sort of contact an exaggerated collapse is now viewed as justified.

If the game is not happy with that state of affairs then it needs to do some hard thinking about how it might change the rules or their interpretation in order to deal with the problem.

The pendulum seems to have shifted too far in favour of the attacker in these situations and, while there is no obvious quick-fix solution, rewarding embellishment seems an unsatisfactory status quo.

BELO HORIZONTE — Having relied on Lionel Messi for most of its goals so far at this World Cup, Argentina is planning to find new ways of scoring in its second-round match against Switzerland on Tuesday.

Messi carried Argentina through the group stage, scoring four of its goals. The other two came from an own goal and left back Marcos Rojo.

With Sergio Aguero missing Tuesday’s match because of a left thigh injury, the Group F winners are looking to Ezequiel Lavezzi to step in — a challenge that assistant coach Claudio Gugnali said the Paris Saint-Germain forward is ready for.

“He’s a very powerful player and is in a great moment,” Gugnali said. “He finished his club season very well. He has been asking to be on the pitch since he came [to Brazil]. I don’t have any doubts that he will know how to take advantage of his opportunities.”

Lavezzi usually attacks down the wings, but also drops back to work in partnership with Argentina’s midfielders. The team will have to adapt its tactical formation a bit if Lavezzi starts.

Argentina is also wary of Switzerland’s attack and will have to shore up its shaky defence to deal with threats that include winger Xherdan Shaqiri, who scored a hat trick against Honduras in the final Group E match.

“Switzerland works very well on the flanks and attacks down the wings,” Gugnali said. “It’s going to be a very intense match.”

Switzerland also beat Ecuador in the group stage, but was overrun by France in a 5-2 defeat. For Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, the team’s qualification for the second round meant postponing his possible retirement. The German veteran, a two-time Champions League winner as a coach, has said this tournament will be his last.

Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio knows that beating Argentina will demand complete concentration by his teammates.

“We must remain highly focused, very disciplined, maintain our compactness, act extremely carefully,” Benaglio said. “The defensive work doesn’t begin with the defenders. Our attacker will be the first defender.”

Argentina is not taking anything for granted and won’t expect to roll over Switzerland in Sao Paulo.

“Everybody said we would score loads of goals in the group stage and it’s clear that didn’t happen,” midfielder Maxi Rodriguez said. “Our mentality is always the same: at a World Cup you have to be focused 100 per cent of the time. It’s true that big teams are still left on the way, but if you’re not concentrated any team can beat you.”