3 things Argentina got wrong in the 3-0 loss to Croatia

#2 Inability to involve Messi and Aguero

Argentina v Croatia: Group D - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia — Aguero was an isolated man upfront

Sergio Aguero didn't register a touch on the ball in the last 21 minutes of the first half. He got one shot away for the while he featured. Lionel Messi was a total no-show. Drifting deep into midfield when Argentina were in possession and slacking away at the other end when they were defending, Messi was nearly impossible to spot on the field.

Argentina lost the midfield battle and were simply outplayed in the centre of the park by Rakitic and Modric. Aguero was severely starved of service as crosses kept getting pinged into irrelevance from either side. He was taken off early in the second half after Argentina conceded the opening goal of the game and the forward was clearly frustrated.

Messi failed to work anything of note even when he was presented with the opportunity but the blame that will befall him after this match will, undoubtedly, be of unwarranted proportions.

Argentina showed no grit or heart and the way Messi, Mascherano and Perez just stood 3 yards behind Rakitic and watched him slot the ball into the bottom corner will be a sight the Argentine fans will take some time to move on from.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala