Argentina's World Cup Hopes Are Kept Alive By Nigeria

By: Tommy Gahan
Twitter: @tgahan9

In what has been a World Cup of disappointments for the Argentinians and their Superstar Lionel Messi, a 1-1 tie vs Iceland was followed by a crushing 3-0 loss to Croatia. Blame has been easily thrown directly at Messi, but also at head coach Jorge Sampaoli for the shockingly poor performance. This has been amplified considering that the South American powerhouse got all the way to the Final in the last World Cup in Brazil four years ago.

However, there still appears to be hope. With Nigeria's 2-0 victory over Iceland, Argentina can still advance to the 16 team elimination stage with a win over the Nigerians in their match next Tuesday and an Icelandic loss to Croatia in what will be the final Group Stage matches for Group D. If both teams win, then it will be decided by goal difference, in which Iceland currently has a slight advantage.

This life preserver thrown by Nigeria gives Messi and his crew a fighting chance to swim to shore and into the field of 16, but it's unclear if they can take advantage. While Lionel has suffered from less than stellar games (especially in comparison to his oft compared rival Cristiano Ronaldo and his dazzling performances for Portugal so far in Russia), his defenders have been criticized as weak with many calling out Coach Sampaoli as to blame for poor player selection. Whatever is truly the case, the Argentina National Team must dig deep and pray for the dominoes to fall their way if they want any chance to claim their first World Cup title since 1986.

Comments

Who is going to win the World Cup?

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is a week underway, and already some have teams qualified for the next round, while other squads are heading home. Let's look at some of the remaining favorites, outsiders and countries dreaming of shocking the world. All odds are from oddschecker.com . Favorites: 1. Brazil 🇧🇷 Current odds 9/2 Despite a disappointing start against Switzerland, Brazil remains the favorite. It looked like they were going to be held scoreless by Costa Rica, but the "Little Magician" Philippe Coutinho came up with the game's first goal in the last minute. At this point, all that really matters for the Brazilians is getting out of the group stage. Brazil has world class players all over the pitch, and they are undoubtedly among the favorites. 2. Spain 🇪🇸 Current odds 9/2 Spain took a huge risk by firing its manager two days before the World Cup began, but with its quality in the squad, the new manager shouldn't need long to adjust. The 2010...

Is Liverpool's long wait coming to an end?

Liverpool last won the English league in 1990, their 11th title in 18 years. If you had suggested then that 28 years later that would be their last title success, you would have been considered crazy. However that is of course the reality they have faced. In that time they have come in second place four times, but have failed to win the Premier League. There hasn't been a huge amount of success in that time. A handful of league and FA cups, 2 Champions Leagues finals where the Reds ended up on the losing side, and of course that famous night in Istanbul when Steven Gerrard almost single-handedly produced one of the greatest comebacks of all time and delivered Liverpool's fifth title. In the last 12 years Liverpool have only won on trophy. The 2012 League Cup final win against Cardiff. However I believe that lack of success and constant frustration is about to change. In the last two seasons Jürgen Klopp has got his side into the top 4, something they had on...

Team of the World Cup

After 64 matches and and one month of almost daily soccer, the World Cup has come to an end. It was one of the most exciting and intriguing World Cups in recent history, and the competition will be remembered for a long time. The champions who were crowned on Sunday afternoon were France, and who could have possibly predicted that? Well actually me ... At the beginning of the World Cup I always felt France had the most complete roster. With world class players in almost every position, and perhaps the next global superstar in Kylian Mbappe, to me they were always the clear favorites. My heart of course wanted England, but as I watched France tear apart Croatia, there was a little part of me that was happy I wasn't subjected to watching England suffer a similar fate. Picking a team of the World Cup is not an easy task. There have been so many standout players, and so many could warrant inclusion. Below is my attempt to try and pick the best 11 individual players of the last m...

World Soccer

Search This Blog