England's bid to hang on blown apart by Argentina masterclass

(Corrects first bullet point to say stoppage-time winner)

By Mark Gleeson

ATLANTA, July 15 : The art of "closing shop" and defending a lead is far from being mastered, as the World Cup has vividly demonstrated, and England paid a heavy price for sitting back after going ahead in Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina.

Anthony Gordon’s goal 10 minutes into the second half put England on course for a place in the final, but like teams before them in this tournament, they were undone by Argentina’s ability to conjure up the most unlikely of comebacks as they went on to win 2-1.

In Atlanta one week ago, the holders had fought back from 2-0 down with 11 minutes left against Egypt in the round of 16 and they booked their place in the final with another dramatic comeback.

It was no escape act, rather a furious fightback in a match of high tension with fired-up players and a gripping atmosphere in the stadium.

Fingers have been pointed at the changes England manager Thomas Tuchel made, and they proved to be mistakes, but even if the German's team had had the best attacking intentions and gone looking for a second goal, it can be impossible to resist when Lionel Messi begins to dictate the game.

“I had no feeling that an offensive substitution would help,” Tuchel said. “Instead, we stayed in our 4-4-2 but became passive, conceding a lot of chances and couldn’t turn the ball possession in our favour.”

ENGLAND HAD MESSI UNDER CONTROL

England had done well to largely keep a handle on Messi for the first hour, with Elliot Anderson consistently snapping at his heels and others closing down any space he managed to create in midfield.

When the 39-year-old master retreated to the right wing, there might have been smiles of satisfaction at his