The chances kept coming and coming and coming in the first half for Argentina: In transition and on corners and in open play, and Argentina kept probing and missing and probing and missing. Not even a penalty kick by Lionel Messi could get past the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who tipped balls away from the net and prevented anything and everything from getting into it.
The score, miraculously, remained the same at halftime as it did when this final match of Group C play began, though Argentina could have — and should have, it would say — tallied two, maybe three goals.