There was a famous study by the World Health Organisation a decade ago. The city of Buenos Aires, it found, had disproportionately high number of therapists; 222 of them per 100,000 people. The United States, in comparison, had 30.When you watch Argentina play, you can understand why. After every game, you need to talk to someone. You have to share what you’ve been through. “Am I losing my mind? Is this normal? How do I cope?”One minute, you’re on the floor. Down and depressed. The next, you’re in heaven. Euphoric. The adrenaline. The dopamine. It’s a natural psychedelic. It’s no surprise Argentinians follow their national team everywhere. This is more than patriotism. It’s an addiction. Everyone tells you it’s not healthy. You know you should stop. But nothing has made you feel this way before and you crave that feeling again and again and again.The feeling hit hard in Atlanta on Tuesday.Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic appThe world champions looked out. Another shock at this World Cup was on the cards. After Cape Verde took Argentina to extra time in the previous round, Egypt left them contemplating a last-16 exit. Two-nil down as late as the 79th minute, Opta’s win probability model gave Argentina just a 0.6 per cent chance of pulling off a comeback. They needed a miracle. Another one.La Scaloneta, as head coach Lionel Scaloni’s tenure is known, appeared over. Requiems were being written for Lionel Messi’s World Cup career.Argentina had been stunned by Egypt, who led 2-0 well into the second half (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)It had been one of those days for Argentina. The kind when nothing goes your way.After they fell behind, Messi missed a penalty. Egypt’s goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir made one save, then another, including a point-blank header from Alexis MacAllister. He looked unbeatable.When Scaloni tried to change things, replacing Rodrigo De Paul and Nicolas Tagliafico with Lautaro Martinez and Nico Gonzalez, Egypt, almost instantly, found a second goal on a sweeping breakaway. Fortunately for Argentina, referee Francois Letexier was called for an on-field review and disallowed the goal for a foul on Lisandro Martinez. To their credit, this didn’t discourage Egypt. They sensed vulnerability in Argentina’s hysteria and scored a second anyway.Immediately afterwards, Messi looked to the sky (well, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s closed roof) and grimaced. When Lautaro missed a chance he created at the near post, Messi fell, chest down, on the grass. Crestfallen. After playing 120 minutes only four days ago, and scraping past Cape Verde via an own goal, you would have been forgiven for thinking this team had nothing left.