FIFA World Cup
World Cup 2018: Argentina vs Nigeria Preview
On Tuesday the New Zenit Stadium will host a high octane clash between Argentina and Nigeria to determine who goes through to the Round of 16 from Group D. Croatia have pretty much secured qualification after thrashing Argentina 3-0 in Round 2 of the group stages. Argentina must rise to the occasion to avoid crashing out of the World Cup. The Nigerians will however look to pull off a major upset. All eyes will be on Leo Messi and Co. to bounce back from that embarrassing defeat to Croatia. The game is poised beautifully to be a thrilling one.
Invigorated Green Eagles
Nigeria will approach the game with a newfound sense of confidence. Their convincing 2-0 win over Iceland will have instilled them with optimism. Although, the African side have never managed to beat Argentina in the World Cup. But they will also be hoping to win successive World Cup games for the first time since 1998. Will they rewrite the history books or will history repeat itself? Only time will tell.
Can La Albiceleste Rise To The Occasion?
The Argentines have never previously gone through a win-less group stage campaign in their history. Croatia completely outplayed them tactically and Argentina looked mentally unprepared right from the start. Leo Messi has not been able to score even once at this World Cup yet despite having had 12 shots. The hopes of an entire nation rest on the talismanic forward today. They will hope he and his fellow attacking superstars can propel this lackluster Argentine team to the knockout stages.
What Went Wrong Against Croatia?
Jorge Sampaoli wanted his full backs to be the widest players on the pitch while attacking. This meant that due to the 3-4-3 formation they had to push very high up the field. That was the cause of plenty of defensive issues for Argentina. Although they looked energetic at the beginning the fatigue of running so high up the field and back caused problems. Willy Caballero’s lack of composure on the ball did not help. His blunder gifted Croatia their first goal. Argentina’s morale dropped massively. The fullbacks were staying very high up. Thus, Mascherano was forced to stay back.
Croatia having a dominating midfield presence meant they could afford not to press very high up and cover the spaces in the final third and in the middle of the park. Hence, Mascherano had to drop deeper to get the ball. Otherwise he would be totally isolated from the buildup play. Rakitic, Modric and Brozovic really cleverly cut off all the supply to the final third. Messi and Aguero were stranded. Hence, they were not able to cause any damage.
Conclusion
Argentina need to build on their mistakes and really step up to the plate. Sampaoli is already under scrutiny and will most likely lose his job. But for now the entire outfit needs to stay focused and united. Nigeria will want to create history as well and they will be a formidable obstacle for La Albiceleste.
Possible Line-Ups:
Nigeria: Francis Uzoho; Kenneth Omeruo, William Ekong, Leon Balogun; Tyronne Ebuehi, Wilfred Ndidi, John Obi Mikel, Oghenekaro Etebo, Victor Moses; Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa
Argentina: Franco Armani; Eduardo Salvio, Gabriel Mercado, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Ever Banega, Javier Mascherano, Enzo Perez, Angel Di Maria; Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain.
