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For those of you who were asking where Messi was, and why he isn't capable of stepping up when it really matters, HERE IS YOUR ANSWER. After literally, everyone had written off the Argentinian team, they beat Nigeria in a thrilling 2-1 margin to qualify for the RO16.
It took Messi merely 15 minutes into the game to get his first goal of the tournament, and send Argentinian fans into a dizzy everywhere.
But, the beginning of the second half saw Nigeria being awarded a soft penalty, and the agony lasted until the last 3 minutes, until Marcos Rojo came out of nowhere to put Argentina into the lead.
With Croatia finishing top of their group, Argentina will now have to face France in the next round. At this point, just bring on anybody.
As always, there were a few individual battles that went a long way in deciding the final outcome of the game. Here's a look at 3 of them:
#1 Lionel Messi vs John Obi Mikel
You could see just how much it meant to him tonight. This game alone saw Messi more pumped and more with a thirst for victory than in the two previous games combined, and if that is not good enough to win, nothing will be.
The second goal was created from the feet of Banega, but Messi's ability and finishing on that ball cannot be ignored. With a deft touch with his thigh, he got the ball down and with another glorious touch, he got away from there and from then on, it was just routine Messi stuff.
In the battle of the captains, it is not surprising that he came out on top. It was Messi who denied Mikel the FIFA U-20 World Cup (the pair took home the Golden Ball and the Silver Ball) in the final, and history repeated itself once more.
More than the goal, it was the commitment that made Messi look good - something that was sorely missing in the previous games. He completed 7 dribbles across the 90 minutes, including 2 key passes and surprisingly, 1 tackle.
In stoppage time, you could see him diving into tackles in the opposition box to ensure that they did not get the ball, and what more can you ask for from your captain?
#2 Ever Banega vs Wilfred Ndidi
To me, Banega was the best player on the pitch tonight. We could go on and on about why Sampaoli should have started him in the previous games, but tonight is about celebrating the heroes, and Banega really deserves to be.
It was him who created Messi's opening goal, finding him with a peach of a long ball from the midfield. It was Banega every time something good happened for Argentina in the midfield, and because Banega was shouldering so much work, Messi was free to play as a forward alongside Higuain instead of burdening himself.
Whenever Mascherano lost the ball with a wayward pass or he got tackled (which was a lot), it was Banega who put in the defensive work.
Wilfred Ndidi had a fine game for himself, and was the main creative force for the Nigerian attack. He completed 6 tackles and 3 dribbles, as against 1 dribble and 4 tackles from the Argentine, but he had no Messi up-front to lob the balls into.
#3 Angel Di Maria vs Ahmed Musa
Well, a lot of people seem to think that Di Maria did not have a great game tonight, but I respectfully disagree. He ran his lungs out every time there was a ball in his vicinity, and went into tackles that were 50/50.
For a team lacking in motivation like Argentina, that is exactly what was needed and I think Di Maria played the part spectacularly well. He was taken early to be replaced by Pavon, who had a great game as well, but Di Maria earned the spot for the next game by giving it his all.
Musa, fresh off his two goals against Iceland, had a decent game as well, but Argentina defended pretty well on the night. The team seems to be very comfortable with their 4 at the back, rather than the 3 man defense, and marked Musa well for the majority of the night.
