Johannesburg - The FIFA World Cup has no room or place for sentiment or respect for reputations.
This is why Germany, Belgium - and so nearly Spain - have needed to pack their bags and head home after ignominious first round of exits.
There was so nearly plenty of crying for Argentina too as they were stunned in their opening match of the tournament by Saudi Arabia.
But the Albiceleste staved off disaster with a hard-fought win against Mexico before securing their spot in the last 16 with a more comfortable 2-0 win over Poland.
Lionel Messi has stepped up when most needed to drag his country into the knockout stages, where they on Saturday face Australia’s plucky Socceroos
Argentina are huge favourites to progress from this game, but anyone who has any faced Australia in any international sporting contest, will know they are in for a big scrap.
After losing 4-1 to France in the opening game of Group D, Australia bounced back with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Tunisia before defeating Denmark in another titanic tussle to secure their knockout qualification with a goal from Matthew Leckie.
There are no big name stars in the Aussie side, so there will be a huge gulf in class. While most of the squad are making their FIFA World Cup debuts, this is the Socceroos’ sixth FIFA World Cup appearance, so they’re not short of tournament pedigree.
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One of the most heartwarming stories of this tournament is that Australia have four players of Sudan origin in their World Cup squad, including Sudanese refugee Awer Mabil, who scored the penalty that sent Australia into the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The World Cup is about dreaming big and realising those dreams, but Australia dreaming of a Socceroos victory in this one might be a bridge too far.
Argentina will be desperate to give Messi what’s possibly his international swansong a huge send-off, and they are still amongst the favourites to earn the golden Holy Grail in Qatar.
Other than Messi, Argentina have Julian Alvarez and Angel di Maria in their attacking ranks and you simply have to back them.
They’re unlikely to run riot, though, this one will be tight and tense, with Argentina likely to be the ones still standing at the final whistle.
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Siphiwe Mkhonza’s prediction: Argentina 2 Australia 1
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