Nigeria through despite loss

Messi scores two as Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 but both teams are through to the last-16 of the football World Cup.


Lionel Messi scored twice as Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 in another wonderful World Cup match but both teams advanced to the second round after Iran lost to Bosnia in the other Group F game.

In an attacking start, Messi lashed in a rebound after three minutes but Nigeria equalised a minute later thanks to a superb finish by Ahmed Musa, only for Messi to curl in a brilliant 20-metre free kick for his fourth of the tournament in first-half stoppage time.

Musa levelled again with a clever finish two minutes after the restart but Argentina, who were assured of qualification before kickoff, got a fortunate third eight minutes later when a corner bounced in off the knee of Marcos Rojo.

Argentina finished on nine points from their three wins and will play the Group E runners-up - probably Ecuador, Switzerland or Honduras.

Nigeria were second on four points and face the Group E winners, likely to be France.

Bosnia ended with three points after beating Iran, who needed to win to have a chance of going through but completed their campaign with one point.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Students protest continued closure of LASU

The real Olisa Metuh, by PDP workers

Akwa Ibom Guber: Two PDP witnesses claim to sign same result sheet