Three days after Alexis Mac Allister and Argentina won the World Cup, his Brighton teammates lost a penalty shootout. The Premier League Seagulls lost at League One Charlton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, even though the stakes were perhaps not nearly as high.
The rest of the Brighton team had to go to freezing south-east London as domestic football resumed, while Mac Allister partied in Buenos Aires after receiving a fortnight off after his heroics in Qatar.
Sam Lavelle then scored the go-ahead penalty after Ashley Maynard-Brewer of the Addicks stopped Moises Caicedo's spot-kick to advance Charlton to the final eight, 4-3 on penalties, following a goalless draw.
For the Addicks, who were once a mainstay of the Premier League but are currently wallowing in 18th place in League One after appointing Dean Holden as their fifth manager in less than two years, times are tough.
When Lewis Dunk almost missed a Solly March corner with his head in the first five minutes of the game, they nearly fell behind. The position Mac Allister plays for Argentina in this Brighton squad is now held by Adam Lallana, but once the 23-year-old returns from his sabbatical, things will undoubtedly change.
Lallana, a former England international, collected Tariq Lamptey's square pass, turned, and narrowly missed the crossbar from 20 yards as the game nearly got underway. However, Charlton also had opportunities in the opening period. Jack Payne cut inside and fired a low shot directly at Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele.
After Miles Leaburn, the teenage son of former Charlton forward Carl, was cautioned for his attack on the goalkeeper, Steele valiantly ran out to stop the goal-bound shot of Steven Sessegnon.
At the beginning of the second half, Roberto De Zerbi substituted Kaoru Mitoma, a Japanese winger who is a member of his World Cup team, in an effort to create some urgency. It had an impact because Maynard-Brewer had to quickly tip Levi Colwill's header over before March sped into the area and evaded a few challenges, but his strike was wide.
Steele was poised to emerge from the shootout as the victor after fending off George Dobson and Jes Rak-Sakyi, but the situation remained deadlocked.
Lavelle stepped up to advance the underdogs after March blazed over and Caicedo's shot was saved.
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