Two nations chasing World Cup glory will do battle today in a match between Argentina and Nigeria. The 2014 World Cup group-stage match scheduled for 12 p.m. ET will be held at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre and can be live streamed here free. A free Spanish language stream of the match can be found here. Free radio coverage here. Additional TV coverage can be found on ESPN, Univision and ESPN Deportes.
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Despite two lackluster performances, Argentina enters today's match with the opportunity to finish atop Group F with nine points. That, however, is for one reason and one reason only: Lionel Messi. The Barcelona man is single-handedly responsible for two match-winners this tournament. For his teammate Angel Di Maria, Messi is the key moving forward.
"I think the people who played with Diego [Maradona] and the guys who run out with Leo [Messi] today have been very fortunate," he said (via FIFA). "They got the best out of Maradona then, and we need to get the best out of Messi now. I think he's in fantastic form and let's hope it stays that way."
"We've had two tough matches [against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran] in which we looked for space and couldn't find any," he added. "And then he popped up at just the right time. The key thing for us is that we're already in the last 16."
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Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: The duties to stymie Messi's runs falls squarely on the shoulders of Nigeria's Kenneth Omeruo. The 20-year-old center-back has been in stellar form this world cup, averaging 3.5 tackles and 8.5 clearances per match.
Argentina's Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Romero; Rojo, Fernández, Garay, Zabaleta; Maria, Mascherano, Gago; Lavezzi, Messi, Palacio
Nigeria's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Enyeama; Oshaniwa, Yobo, Omeruo, Ambrose; Onazi, Mikel; Musa, Babatunde, Odemwingie; Emenike
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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