Sport

World Cup Roundup: Super Eagles brought to earth by Argentina

It took just 14 minutes for the little maestro Messi to reveal why is highly regarded as the best player in the world.

June 27, 2018
Dave Savides 2 minutes read

Nigeria 1-2 Argentina

Argentina arrived in Russia a couple of weeks ago: but they only really pitched up on Tuesday night.

It took a very late goal for them to ensure their progress in the competition after a 2-1 triumph over Nigeria.

They played with no resemblance to the pathetic performances of their first two Group D encounters.

That includes Lionel Messi, who showed just why he is the best in the world.

It took just 14 minutes for the little maestro to reveal his pedigree.

Fed the ball, his superb two-touch control and his splendid technique ensured he never looked like missing as he steered it past teenage keeper Francis Uzoho’s right hand (1-0).

Only 1-0 down at the break, Nigeria were thrown a lifeline in the 48th minute when Javier Mascherano pulled down Balogun to earn a yellow card.

Victor Moses scored from the spot kick to level the scores.

Nigeria gained confidence thereafter but poor finishing let them down.

The Last Chance Saloon closed its doors on Nigeria in the 85th minute when, after sustained pressure, Man United’s Marcos Rojo’s decent strike put Argentina through and Nigeria out at 2-1.

No shame for the men in green, who made all Africa proud. The Super Eagles will fly back home, but they will be back!

Croatia 2-1 Iceland

Croatia maintained their perfect record with a 2-1 win over Iceland in their engaging Group D encounter.

Iceland were frozen out of contention, both by their loss and by Argentina’s late victory over Nigeria.

GROUP C

Peru 2-1 Australia

Australia failed to convert their many chances while Peru made the most of their few as both sides bowed out of the World Cup this evening.

Peru won 2-1, much to the delight of their avid fans as well as those of fellow Group C contenders Denmark, for whom an Oz victory might have spelt disaster for their campaign.

France 0-0 Denmark

France, already through to the knockout stage, had the luxury of resting players while Denmark were looking over their shoulders at what was happening in the Peru v Australia game.

As long as they did not lose, the Danes were also assured of going through in Group C.

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At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks - never to generate the news. Happy reading!
June 27, 2018
Dave Savides 2 minutes read

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