Lionel Messi’s Argentina on brink of World Cup exit after Croatia demolition
Just when it seemed that Iceland were crafting another masterclass in defensive suffocation, despite a Volgograd evening hot enough to remind them of their geothermal springs, Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa struck twice to derail the dream.
At a stroke, the complexion of Group D was transformed, while the Icelandic fans’ much-loved thunderclap chant rang out, by the end, with barely a fraction of its customary Viking menace.
Nigeria and Argentina will play on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 when Iceland face group winner Croatia.
The games happen simultaneously so that nobody has an advantage in knowing the other result before they play.
There are 4 things the German tactician cannot afford on Tuesday:
Cannot afford to drop either Etebo or Ndidi
Unless one of these players is very unfit, they must be fielded against Argentina in what is now a must-win match for Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr must NOT drop Wilfred Ndidi for Ogenyi Onazi
Cannot afford to be lackadaisical from the first minute
The Super Eagles cannot start the match against Argentina, lacking any tempo. They must start the match as if they are two goals down [which they really are] and looking for the equaliser. Victor Moses has called for an early goal and that is a very good advice. ”We have a plan to apply for Argentina in the hope of scoring goals early and making them feel bad,” Moses told fotbolti.net.
Cannot afford to play a lone striker
In all the matches played before the start of the World Cup, the only encounter in which Rohr has employed a lone striker and scored more than one goal was against Cameroon in the qualifiers for Russia 2018. Against Poland, Serbia, Congo DR, and England – the Eagles lacked numbers in the opposition box to convert chances. Against Iceland, Eagles played with two strikers. In Argentina, the Eagles must get more numbers into the box to unsettle the Argentine defenders to score the needed goals.
Cannot afford to change the starting 11 that played against Icealand.