photo credit: BBC
La Albiceleste captain Lionel
Messi, gave Argentina a lifeline with his 14th minute strike. It took him a
while to get warmed up but he's back. Tuesday's must win clash saw a revived
Argentina after their previous match struggles against Iceland and Croatia,
with Messi rediscovering his best form. The Argentinian forward received a
decisive pass from Ever Banega - Sevilla midfielder, with the ball falling
right at Messi's feet. Messi handled the ball with three synchronized touches
with three different parts of his body to score, delivering a thumping shot
with his 'less active' right foot and finished past the Nigerian goalkeeper.
photo credit: Getty and Reuters
Nigeria was
given an opportunity to equalize thanks to Maraschino's terrible mistake. He
held Nigeria's Balogun at Nigeria's first corner in the 2nd half of the game,
earning Nigeria a penalty.
Victor Moses calmly beat Argentina's debutante
goalkeeper Franco Armani, granting Nigeria a tie with Argentina.
photo credit: BBC
La Albiceleste
made it to the knockout rounds with a 2-1 victory thanks to the 87th minute
winning goal from Argentina's "Toni Kroos", Marcos Rojos. Javier
Mascherano pulled the trigger that almost led to Argentina's elimination until
Rojos - the Manchester United defender - turned the tables in Argentina's favor. Argentina will face
France on Saturday in Round of 16, while Croatia faces Denmark on Sunday.
Messi's
goal at St. Petersburg made him the scorer of the 100th goal of the 2018 World
Cup. The Barcelona star joined the likes of Neymar and Andres Iniesta who
struck triple figures at the 2014 and 2010 World Cups respectively. In the last
three World Cups, it has been a Barcelona player who scored the 100th goal.
Messi's goal against Nigeria makes him the only player to have scored a World
Cup goal in his teens, twenties and thirties. He played his first World
Cup game as a teenager back in 2006, with 1 goal. Messi, in his late twenties,
scored 4 goals at the 2014 World Cup, and has scored his first goal at the 2018
World Cup, at 31.
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