Among the World Cup games today, Argentina and Nigeria face off for the fifth time in World Cup history.
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Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendy’s France are also in action today, facing Denmark in their Group C finale (3pm United Kingdom time).
Ahead of Armani, Argentina seem set to revert back to four at the back with Gabriel Mercado and Nicolas Otamendi flanked by Eduardo Salvio and Nicolas Tagliafico.
However, Nigeria have their own plans too.
One of the lesser known names here, Luciano Monzon also earned a big (ish) move to Real Betis in 2008. The next match for the Nigerians saw the complete opposite of what we saw in the first game against Croatia as they recorded an impressive 2-0 victory over Iceland, buoyed by keeping an Argentina side to a draw, courtesy of 2 Ahmed Musa goals in the second half.
We take a look at the facts and figures from the Super Eagles’ previous final group matches, as well as past encounters with Argentina.
Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has had a nightmare tournament so far, in particular when he gave the ball away cheaply to allow Croatia to open the scoring in the second game and Sampaoli said he would not hesitate in dropping his experienced players.
The game will get underway at 7pm on Tuesday night with Iceland and Croatia playing at the same time.
‘He wants to show the world a different image to the one we’ve shown in the first two games’.
“We are very confident, especially after a great result against Iceland”.
The Hapoel Be’er Sheva midfielder, who missed out on the 2014 World Cup is living out the dream in the ongoing 2018 World Cup, noting that it is an honour to play for Nigeria. The world’s best player had a penalty saved against Iceland.
Messi carried Argentina through a troubled qualifying campaign but has so far failed to fire in Russian Federation, missing a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Iceland before Croatia thrashed the two-time world champions 3-0. This team has lost the past three finals they have played.
The coach revealed that every member of his team is fit and ready for the clash, adding, however, that Mikel Obi will play with a cast in his hand because of a slight fracture he suffered in the last game against Iceland.
So far in Russia, Messi has been held scoreless. According to our numbers, Denmark has an implied goal total of 1.0 goal, the third-lowest on the slate. This team should have won some serious silverware. While their replacements are certainly capable, the squad rotation should take some of the pressure off of Halldorsson, giving him a better chance at a clean sheet.
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ALSO READ: FIFA 2018 Points Table Messi’s Argentina will be eliminated with a defeat or a tie.
