FIFA World Cup 2018: Sourav Ganguly Exhales after Lionel Messi's Goal Helps Argentina Stay Alive
Published - 27 Jun 2018, 12:43 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:21 AM
Undoubtedly it was one of the biggest days in the life of Lionel Messi, and he needed to deliver big time. Argentina was staring a possible elimination from the group stages. It would have been the first time in 60 years that Argentina wouldn’t have progressed to the Round of 16 at FIFA World Cup 2018.
Messi, the man for Argentina
However, Argentina managed to hold extend their tenure in the tournament by securing a 2-1 over Nigeria. Croatia also did them a favour by defeating Iceland by a 2-1 margin. Argentina came into the game on the back of some poor football in the match against Croatia.
Coach Sampaoli made five changes from the last day. The goalkeeper was dropped for obvious reasons. Messi had to step up his game if Argentina had any chances of going through. They didn’t play organised football under stress of imagination. A better team would have found them wanting on yet another occasion.
Ahead of the encounter former India cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly tweeted it will be the biggest game in Messi’s life, and it will be interesting to see whether he steps up for not.
“Start of the biggest game of Messi s life ..let’s see whether the champion stands up,” Ganguly had written before the start of the match.
Start of biggest game of messi s life ..let’s see whether the champion stands up
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Messi lived up to the expectations of Ganguly and his fans from all across the world when the genius completed a sensational goal. It was a terrific aerial ball from Banega.
Messi struck it with the right foot and placed it in the perfect left corner. It was a stunning goal, to say the least. The Messi Magic was missing for the first two days. But when he came, he came with a bang. Ganguly expressed his delight by tweeting,
“Messsssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii”
Messsssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Argentina went on to concede a goal in the 2nd half when Xavier Mascherano’s foul in the box conceded a penalty. Nigeria was looking well set to go through.
However, it was Marcus Rojo who netted the winner with just three minutes of normal time left. The ball fell perfectly on the volley and Rojo buried it in the right bottom corner with precision.
Argentina to face France in Round of 16
Argentina will now face France in the Round of 16 clashes on Saturday. They have to improve by leaps and bounds in the coming match if they harbour hopes of advancing further.
Round of 16 without Argentina wouldn’t have been appropriate. Hence Argentina remaining in the FIFA World Cup 2018 should be a big plus for the mega event.
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