Goals: Nigeria—Musa 4’, 47’; Argentina—Messi 3’, 45’+2 Rojo 51’
Recap: The brilliance of Lionel Messi was enough to see Argentina capture a 3-2 victory over Nigeria on Wednesday.
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The match opened with a blistering pace, seeing Messi polish off a rebound in the third minute. It took all of sixty seconds for Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa to equalize. The two players would continue dueling moments later. A bending free-kick just before the half allowed Messi to give La Albiceleste a 2-1 lead. Musa responded right after the break with a darting finish of his own. Marcos Rojo would find the eventual match-winner just four minutes later.
Both teams have qualified for the Round of 16.
Key Moment: Lousy set-piece defending sealed Nigeria’s fate on Wednesday. Rojo was able to win the match for Argentina thanks to improper marking from striker Emmanuel Emenike. The 27-year-old lacked the awareness to mark a near-post run from the left-back, allowing him to polish off a cross from Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Man of the Match: He wasn’t just responsible for two of Argentina’s goals on Wednesday, he’s been responsible for four of the team’s five goals thus far in the tournament. Messi is carrying Argentina on his own.
Lesson Learned: If Argentina doesn’t win the World Cup, it’ll be because of its back line. Poor defending allowed Musa to scorch the terrain en route to goal on more than one occasion. The finishing touch is there, but Argentina will be finished if its defending doesn’t improve.
Up Next: Nigeria travels to Brasilia to face France on June 30, while Argentina visits Sao Paulo to meet the runner-up in Group E.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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