Porto Alegre, Jun 26: Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 in their last World Cup group match on Wednesday, with Lionel Messi and Ahmed Musa scoring two goals each before Marcos Rojo kneed in the winner.
Argentina won Group F while Nigeria also advanced despite the loss, becoming the first African team in the Round of 16 in Brazil.
Messi had his best match of the World Cup so far, scoring twice in the first half to boost his tournament total to four goals, and repeatedly cutting up Nigeria’s defense with dazzling runs and clever passes.
“We played against a team that wanted to play,” Messi said. “I think we saw a good Argentina. We need to continue on this path.”
The Argentina captain needed less than three minutes to finish Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama’s clean sheet in Brazil, slamming in the rebound after Angel Di Maria’s shot bounced off the post. Nigeria replied within a minute as Musa cut in from the left and beat Sergio Romero with a curling shot toward the far post.
Nearing halftime Messi tested Enyeama with a 25-meter free kick that the goalkeeper struggled to push to a corner. Having found his aim, Messi was ice cold when Nigeria gave up another free kick just moments later from a slightly shorter distance.
This time Enyeama was stunned as the ball hooked over the wall and slipped in just inside the post.
“Messi is one of heck of a player, he’s blessed. You can’t take it away from him,” Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said. “Messi is from Jupiter, he is different.”
The second half started at the same furious pace as the first, with two goals within the first five minutes. First Musa took advantage of confusion in the Argentine defense to score his second. Then Rojo made it 3-2 as he got his right knee on a corner kick three minutes later.
Both teams continued to chase more goals but the intensity dropped off somewhat as Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella substituted Messi after the hour-mark. The Barcelona wizard enjoyed the space he was given by Nigeria, which surged forward rather than locking down in defense like Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran did against Argentina. He has scored in each of the team’s three matches.
Finding more space to attack, Argentina created more chances than in its previous games, but its defense caved in on both of Musa’s goals. Another concern for Argentina: Striker Sergio Aguero was injured in the first half, and replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi.
“I think we had a lot of chances, and could have scored a few more goals,” Sabella said.
Tens of thousands of Argentine fans had traveled to Porto Alegre for the match, taunting Brazilian spectators by singing “Maradona is greater than Pele” at the 44,000-capacity Beira-Rio Stadium.
The Brazilians booed and held up five fingers to remind the Argentines of how many World Cups they’ve won. Argentina has two.
Bosnia do Nigeria a favour
SALVADOR: Bosnia beat Iran 3-1 in their Group F finale on Wednesday to record their first World Cup win and deny the West Asians any chance of reaching the knockout stage. Already eliminated after two losses, Bosnia, appearing at a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation, went ahead in the 23rd minute through Edin Dzeko.
Bosnia doubled their lead just before the hour through Miralem Pjanic’s cool finish before Reza Ghoochannejhad pulled a goal back for Iran in the 82nd minute. Avdija Vrsajevic restored Bosnia’s two-goal cushion with a fine strike a minute later. Iran had required all three points against Bosnia and needed Argentina to beat Nigeria to have any shot of grabbing a surprise place in the last 16.
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