Nigeria has provided a helping hand to the sinking Argentine ship by hammering Iceland 2-0 to blow the competition for the knock-out stages in group D wide open. The super eagles were in scintillating form in the 2nd half and put the recently famed Icelandic defense to the sword during the 2nd half of the game. Ahmed Musa was the hero for Nigeria as the forward grabbed the winning goals and kept Argentine World Cup hopes alive.
Now what is of paramount importance to Argentina is to beat Nigeria in what promises to be a cracker of a game. But beating Nigeria is easier said than done. The Nigerians will be brimming with confidence heading into the game and Leo Messi and company need to be wary of that threat.
So here are 3 things which Argentina needs to do against Nigeria.
3 Accommodate Dybala in the starting eleven
Despite all the attacking riches Argentina has, their midfield has a dearth of pace and creativity. No one in the Argentine midfield seems capable to generate line breaking passes and move the ball swiftly in the opposition half.
For that specific reason, Lionel Messi usually drops deep in midfield and carries the ball forward for his national team. But when Messi didn’t drop much in midfield in the game against Croatia, the result was horrendous to say the least.
One thing that goes against playing Dybala in the starting eleven is that his playing style is similar to that of Messi.
2 Exploit Nigeria’s set-piece weakness
As correctly pointed out by Iceland’s central defender, Kari Arnason, the Nigerians do have a problem while defending set-pieces. Prior to the game against Iceland, the Super Eagles had conceded 4 goals in 3 games against England, Czech Republic, and Croatia. To make matter even worse, the one conceded against Croatia was an own goal. Even in the initial stages of the game against Iceland, the African side looked bereft of ideas during set-pieces. Although it does not seem to be a major issue, it must be duly noted by Jorge Sampaoli. As per the current qualification scenario, the Nigerians require only a point in their last game against the Albiceleste to qualify for the knock-out rounds of the World Cup.
1 Improve defensive transitions
Jorge Sampaoli’s teams are often constituted with a high pressing system along with a very high defensive line. Also, his teams were quick enough to get back in shape as soon as opposition hit them on the counter-attack.
But this aging Argentine side clearly lacks in this regard, which has been the main cause for team’s abysmal defensive performance in this World Cup.
Against Croatia, the team was guilty of ball watching when the 3rd goal was conceded. Even during the 2nd goal which Luka Modric scored, he was marked only by Nicolas Otamendi while it is a known fact that Modric is good at losing his marker quite easily.