FIFA World Cup 2018 – Nigeria Vs Argentina – Preview
Jun 26, 2018 at 7:49 PM
The world will be watching Lionel Messi, as he and his Argentina team-mates attempt to rescue their FIFA World Cup 2018 campaign against Nigeria on Tuesday.
After two rounds of action in Group D, the 2014 runners-up are staring elimination in the face. Having been held to a surprise 1-1 draw by debutants, Iceland before capitulating to a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Croatia earlier.
Messi’s last chance to pursue glory
So much of the pre-tournament talk was whether – in what could be his final World Cup – Messi would finally experience international glory, as great rival Cristiano Ronaldo did with Portugal at Euro 2016.
But a torrid start means Messi’s men have it all to do to make it to the first knockout stage simply. Argentina needs to defeat Nigeria in St Petersburg and hope Iceland do not manage likewise against already qualified Croatia.
The fall-out from Thursday’s damaging loss has been colossal, with legendary Diego Maradona wading into the mess to criticise Sampaoli and his methods.
On the top of that, reports have surfaced that the Argentina camp staged a mutiny against Sampaoli – talk that was dismissed by the nation’s FA president, Claudio Tapia as little more than media hype.
Argentina needs a win over Nigeria and would want Croatia to win over Iceland to advance, as runners-up. If Iceland wins, Argentina can still go through on the goal differential tiebreaker if it wins by a more significant margin.
Nigeria – a threat
For Nigeria, the team will go through with a win. A draw could also do it if Iceland fails to beat Croatia. If Iceland wins and Nigeria draws, then it will come down to tiebreakers. Nigeria and Argentina are relatively healthy for this one for the most part, though Enzo Perez has a knock and may not start for Argentina.
Jorge Sampaoli is expected to go back to a four-man back line. He would want to put Lionel Messi in attack with Gonzalo Higuain.
And his 31st birthday on Sunday only served to highlight how time is running out for Messi to win a major international tournament. Without the five-time World Player of the Year, though, it is highly unlikely Argentina would even have qualified.
The Barcelona superstar salvaged a disastrous campaign under three different managers. In their hour of need, Argentina needs Messi’s best once more.
“Leo is fine,” insisted veteran midfielder Javier Mascherano. The latter knows Messi better than most while having spent eight years, as his club team-mate at Barcelona.
“He is a human being who has his frustrations because things haven’t worked out, but so are we all. Like it or not, we are the runners-up from the World Cup, and we have to show it.”
Argentina eyes victory
So far in Russia, Messi has been held scoreless. Messi missed a penalty among 11 unsuccessful shots on goal in a 1-1 draw with Iceland. He also failed to make any meaningful impact in an error-strewn Argentine display against Croatia.
“It is the most critical situation I have experienced, along with the Ecuador game,” said Lucas Biglia on Sunday.
“But sometimes you have to cling to something.” Argentina is clinging to the hope their captain bails them out again.