Lionel Messi's goal vs Nigeria was his 100th goal in 2018.
Argentina may have squeezed through to the knockout stages of the World Cup in nail-biting fashion on Tuesday but again there was little to suggest the two-time winners can go deep in the tournament.
Although they need massive improvement in order to keep going forward in the World Cup, they will be satisfied to have at least made it to the last 16 against all the odds.
Changes made to the team for the last group game were designed to play to Messi's strengths, with Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain restored to the starting line-up to feature alongside him in a preferred 4-3-3 formation that sought to banish the ghosts of a miserable showing in their previous Group D game – a horror 3-0 loss to Croatia in Nizhny Novgorod last week where Argentina looked tactically impoverised and Messi was anonymous.
Under-fire coach Jorge Sampaoli also included Ever Banega to add some midfield muscle and spray the passes that Messi could run onto and it did not take long to do the trick.
Messi's 14th minute goal came exactly as planned – and set Argentina on course for the victory they needed to progress. Rojo then struck a superb late winner to snatch victory and book a meeting with Group C winners France in Kazan on Saturday in the first game of the second phase of the tournament.
Regardless of Argentina’s level of play on Tuesday night, the fans were entertained fully, courtesy of Messi standing up on the crucial occasion.
Here are some tweets from Argentina vs Nigeria’s match:
It leaves little time for Argentina to shake off the impression that there is a large dollop of desperation in their play, and that if they are to again go all the way to the final, as they did four years ago, it is going to take individual brilliance rather than a collective effort to get them there.
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 "Messi and Roja")
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