Argentina needed to win their final group game against Nigeria in order to survive in the 2018 World Cup and my God did they leave it late.
Argentina went 1-0 thanks to a 14th-minute goal from Lionel Messi who finally rose to the occasion and helped his side take the lead. But that goal was eventually cancelled out by Victor Moses who scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-1.
And as Argentina were looking down the barrel at a humiliating exit, it was Marcos Rojo who stepped up to the plate and scored the winning goal of the game – 4 minutes before time.
While the hero of the day was undoubtedly Marcos Rojo, former England defender Rio Ferdinand has gone onto claim that it was Lionel Messi’s half-time team talk that helped Argentina pull up their socks and win the match.
Talking to the BBC, Ferdinand said: ‘We saw the pictures before of Messi in the tunnel talking to the team,
‘When the great Lionel Messi is speaking to them team-mates, they have to listen, they have to come together.
‘Without that unity, you can’t achieve anything.’
In all honesty, Argentine performed as poorly as they have been doing throughout this tournament. They were weak in attack and struggled in defence.
And if you ask any football lover they would tell you that, Nigeria played much better as a team and should have held on to that 1-1 draw.
Sadly though, after a couple of years, no one will remember what Nigeria produced on the pitch. Everyone will remember the scoreline and how Lionel Messi’s Argentina(with the help of Marcos Rojo)managed to come together and prevent a catastrophic upset.
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