The summery buzz in the St Germain began to disappear into bars a little before 9 on Saturday night.

In the pale blue and white striped shirts of Argentina and green or red fan shirts of Mexico they stood around in front of the the widescreen tvs and the bar filled with half a dozen languages and many, many more accents.

From the first whistle Mexico charged, with speed and fury and in minutes they scored. The bar erupted, lights flashed on and off, happy, joyous fans erupted and the Argentina fans sat with their mouths open in shock. Then minutes later Argentina blazed back with a goal of their own and a new set of fans threatened to bring down the walls. The boys in green and red set up a 'Meh-hee-co, Meh-Hee-co' chant and were quickly contesting against 'Argentina! Argentina!'

In the European summer nights, the buzz is everywhere.

Argentina 2; Mexico 1 (extra time).