The Nigerian Super Eagles this evening lost 1:2 to the Argentinians. In a match which promised to be highly competitive, Argentina came needing a win to qualify while Nigeria needed a draw.
Messi scored his first goal and Argentina’s first of the night in the 14th minute. That was however all that was seen of Messi as he was always surrounded by Nigerian defenders.
In the second half, Nigeria equalized from the penalty spot after Leon Balogun was pulled down by Mascherano. The scores stayed at 1:1 till the 86th minute when Marcos Rojo shot in Argentina’s second goal.
After the match, the Nigerian Coach Gernot Rhor said “We have a very young team who lack some experience, but in four years we’ll be very strong. I want to thank our supporters who have come a long way to be here. Most matches we played in felt like away games. But it’s not about the quantity of supporters but the quality, and I think we have the best ones.”
For the Argentine coach, it was a tough win. He said “This victory was because the players were convinced they are excellent players. Today they were able to win against a very tough opponent. We had the necessary strength to fight to the very last minute. The players were really brave and that courage made the second goal possible.”
Argentina now qualifies with 4 points behind Croatia with 9 points and will now take on France in the second round. Speaking about the round of 16, Messi said “We suffered a lot. There was a lot at stake. It was a huge relief, a relief for all of us. We didn’t think we would suffer this much.
“We have watched every single France game. We follow every game. France is a very good team with skilled individual players. They have very fast players who can really make a difference. I know what we will have to do. It will be a very tough game, no doubt.”