The ManicaPost
Unless he takes drastic action it might prove rather difficult for Alejandro Sabella to stop his players relying too much on Lionel Messi.
Dropping him is probably the only solution, such is the impact Argentina’s magical captain is beginning to have at this World Cup.
After scoring the winning goal in his side’s first two Group F encounters, Messi was at it again here at a pulsating Estadio Beira-Rio.
Only this time he struck twice before Marcos Rojo stepped forward to settle another utterly absorbing encounter and become only the second Argentina player to score at these finals. If anything, Sabella needs to focus his attention more at the opposite end of the field.
He might concern himself with the fact that Sergio Aguero limped off the pitch in the first half with what looked like another muscle injury; a worry for Manchester City too, given the problems their striker has endured this past year.
But Sabella should start to recognise the contribution of Angel di Maria in his side’s attacking play and demand that his defenders start to perform to the same high standard.
As dramatic a game as this was, it exposed the defensive frailties we witnessed in Argentina’s first two games.
The back four creaked against Bosnia and Herzegovina and owed much to the goalkeeping heroics of Sergio Romero to stop Iran from scoring.
In Messi, of course, we have a player capable of doing for Argentina what Diego Maradona once did in Mexico 28 years ago.
A player seemingly ready to display that remarkable ability on the grandest stage of all.
He might have been a little slow to get going in this tournament but he is gathering momentum now and very much leading his team from the front.
As well as being his fourth of the tournament thus far, Messi’s second was his tenth in eight international appearances and his 42nd in 89 in total; a better return and a better ratio than Maradona and second only to Gabriel Batistuta on Argentina’s all-time list.
Messi might have scored more on Wednesday but Sabella took the sensible decision to take him off after 63 minutes.
But if a side that moves into the last 16 as group winners, with nine points, is to make it all the way to Rio on July 13, Sabella needs to apply some discipline to a back four that has a tendency to go missing a bit.
Inspired, no doubt, by a crowd dominated by the blue and white stripes of Argentina — apparently some 200 000 supporters have made the 500-mile journey from their border to the west of Porto Alegre — Messi struck after just three minutes.
Racing onto a super pass from Fernando Gago, Di Maria unleashed a shot that hit the post and rebounded back against it after striking Vincent Enyeama on the back and then bounced into the path of the advancing Messi, who with his left foot simply drove the ball into the roof of the net.
But within 60 seconds Nigeria had levelled to make this the first match in World Cup history to see both teams score inside the first five minutes.
While it was a goal that was stunning in its execution, it also owed much to Argentina’s failure to close down their opponents.
Michael Babatunde — who sadly would leave the field in the second half with what looked like a fractured arm after being struck be a fast-moving ball — surged forward unopposed before feeding a pass into Ahmed Musa, who in turn would be allowed to take a couple of steps inside before curling a stunning shot beyond the reach of a diving Romero.
Other chances would then follow for Argentina, with Di Maria particularly impressive alongside the genius that is Messi. And after 37 minutes Aguero would drop to the ground with nobody near him, suggesting that he had indeed pulled something.
Argentina would continue to apply pressure, with the athletic Enyeama doing well to stop a Messi free-kick. But no sooner had his team-mates applauded him for that save than another Messi delivery would prove beyond him. A breathtaking dead-ball delivery.
It amounted to a crushing blow to Nigeria, coming just moments before the break. But they responded brilliantly, Musa levelling just two minutes into the second half after accelerating onto a perfectly weighted, defence-splitting pass from Emmanuel Emenike.
Again, however, Argentina’s defenders, in particular Federico Fernandez and Rojo, should have been more alert to the danger. — Daily Mail.
