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All bark, no bite: Wasteful Argentina staring at catastrophic World Cup elimination

Despite the switch to the vociferous Bombonera, Thursday yielded a familiarly frustrating 90 goalless minutes for Lionel Messi and his charges

When you can no longer change the players on the pitch, try and change the fans. Argentina brought a must-win World Cup qualifying clash against Peru to Boca Juniors' infamous Bombonera on Thursday, in an attempt to up the ante at the end of a spluttering campaign for Russia 2018.

The more intimate, vociferous atmosphere in the stadium, it was argued, would push the Albiceleste on to a win that was desperately needed in order to avoid a potentially catastrophic failure to make the finals.