The first match of the World Cup involving a serious contender for the title, and featuring the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi, was more of a scrappy affair than the spectacular game we were expecting. Although Argentina won by a very early goal from a corner, there were worrying signs for coach Diego Maradona as none of his world class strikers could find the back of the net.
Argentina relies very heavily on their attackers for progressing in the tournament and they need to score goals on a regular basis to keep the momentum going. In Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Diego Milito and Sergio Aguero, Argentina have clearly the best attacking options available than any of their counterparts in the tournament. They started the match with Messi, Higuain and Tevez in the team, and later introduced Milito in place of Higuain. Messi carved out and squandered a number of chances from the start of the match till the final whistle but could not get past the Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. His movement around the defenders, though, entertained the whole crowd, and barring a disappointing one goal victory, it’s a perfect start for the flamboyant Messi.
Enyeama had an extremely brilliant game, exactly what was required of him to give the Nigerian attackers any chance of getting something from the game. Despite having ended the match on the losing side, he had clearly produced the best performance of the match. Facing Messi, Tevez, Higuain and Milito was never going to be easy, and he made many top-drawer saves. He received some good help from his defenders also. Joseph Yobo and Danny Shittu remained busy throughout the match with the Argentinean strikers linking up well, playing one-two and always trying to get past the Nigerian defensive duo.
Gabriel Heinze also made a display going forward on the left flank, but had nothing much to do defensively. His winning goal in only the sixth minute of the match was helped by poor man marking from the Super Eagles when Heinze came from outside the penalty box to score from a diving header. Walter Samuel and Martin Demichelis kept the Nigerian attackers at bay and never made any fuss when called upon. Javier Mascherano was given the duty of cutting out any balls going forward from the Nigerian midfield to their attackers, and he fulfilled it responsibly. His vision for distributing balls was also impressive, which is always very important in build-up of attacks. Juan Sebastian Veron was in key momentum for the Argentineans to bring the attackers into play. He may not have legs any more to run from his penalty box to the opponents’, but he made good deliveries for the attacking trio to make an impact.
Chinedu Ogbuke missed at least two good chances in the first half. Super Eagles turned more adventurous in the second period, as they looked for an equaliser, hoping to salvage something from the match. The introduction of Obafemi Martins was positive in this respect, as he was always looking to make runs with the balls and bringing fellow attackers into play. Yakubu Aiyegbeni worked hard to open up the Argentinean defence but with almost no success. One of Yakubu’s crosses towards the end of the game was met by Kalu Uche who could not control the volley to keep it on target and test Argentinean keeper Sergio Romero at least once in the match.
Argentina face South Korea next, who won against Greece earlier in the day with a strong football display. This match could decide the top spot in the group and will prove to be crucial for both teams. Nigeria will take on Greece and the Super Eagles will have to win this match to give them any chance of making Round of 16.
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