Argentina
beat Nigeria 3-2, thanks to a double strike from Messi in one of the most
exciting matches in the World Cup so far.
The
Nigerians put up two counts of splendid comebacks by matching both Messi’s goals
within 3 minutes.
However, they failed to repeat the feat thrice, and a header
from Marcus Roja in the 50th minute sealed the victory.
That said,
the Nigerians also advanced into the last 16, a result they well deserved.
Magic Messi
Messi opened
the scoring at the 3rd minute scored and another spectacular free
kick seconds before the second half.
Nigeria
coach Stephen Keshi said, "Messi is from Jupiter, he is different."
Jupiter or not, the addition of two goals into the tally propels Messi up to the
top of the goalscoring chart at 4 goals, together with fellow Barcelona
clubmate, Neymar.
With his
current form, he looks set to bring Argentina into the World Cup.
(Just an
interesting observation: Hands up if you noticed Messi’s simple celebration move
of running around with arms wide open)
The Differentiating factor: Track Record
I previously
also discussed whether Netherlands can win the world cup. If there anything
that differentiates the power of Messi vs the twin strike force of Robben and
Van Persie, it’s the track record.
The trends points
to a very possible victory for the Albiceleste. Argentina has won the World cup
2 times, once in 1978 when they were hosts and the second time in 1986 in
Mexico. It would not be a surprise for Messi to “do a Maradona” and lift the
World Cup this time round in Brazil. Go Messi, prove the critics wrong.
Another
interesting trivia tidbit is that out of the 15 previous appearances, Argentina
has never lost in the Semi Finals. Thus if they make it that far, we can safely
assume they will sail smooth into the finals. At least, I would say the odds
will be higher than Suarez biting again in this world cup…
EUFASS
World Cup Trivia is a series designed for the current World Cup 2014 to give fans more than one ways to savour the game.
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