Review of Messi and Rojo's goals that put Argentina into the round of 16

Messi scored early. But despite that favorable start, Argentina still had to go through a real struggle at Saint Petersburg, where they escaped in the most spectacular and dramatic way.

Nigeria played poorly in the first half, but improved after the break, and came very close to eliminating Argentina and qualifying for the next round. However, everything was turned upside down with unexpected developments in the last 20 minutes of the match.

The video referee (VAR) denied a penalty after Marcos Rojo handled the ball in Argentina's penalty area in the 75th minute. Eleven minutes later, Rojo himself, as if coming out of nowhere, appeared in Nigeria's penalty area, received a pass from teammate Mercado and then kicked the ball accurately to seal the 2-1 result for the South American representative.

Rojo's (number 16) timely brilliance saved Argentina from the tragedy of elimination. Photo:AP

Defeating their direct competitor, plus another competitor Iceland losing 1-2 to Croatia in the same match, Argentina squeezed through a narrow gap, into the round of 16.

In the stands of Saint Petersburg Stadium, many Argentine fans were choked up and in tears, witnessing their beloved team avoid the tragedy of being eliminated right after the group stage.

Going into the match against Nigeria, Argentina did everything they could to shake off the heavy mentality from the 0-3 loss to Croatia four days ago, as well as the situation of no longer having the right to decide their own fate in the race for a ticket to the next round in Group D. And they did very well in the first half.

Thanks to five personnel changes, spread across all three lines, and the return of the 4-4-2 system, Argentina transformed from a sluggish team that lacked both inspiration and strength in the previous two matches.

With Rojo returning to partner Otamendi at centre-back, and goalkeeper Armani playing confidently in his first start, Argentina's defensive quality improved markedly.

Meanwhile, Ever Banega's creativity in midfield helped Argentina to be more unpredictable in their attacking situations. Messi seemed comfortable when placed in the striker position behind Higuain. Thanks to that, Argentina played freely and with great speed, putting a lot of pressure on Nigeria's field.

The result of that change was the opening goal in the 14th minute, when Banena himself passed long for Messi to run down and finish diagonally past goalkeeper Uzoho. Messi then almost doubled Argentina's advantage, with a free kick being denied by the post.

Messi has scored six goals at the World Cup, and 50% of them have come against Nigeria. Before his opener on June 26, he had also scored twice against the African side in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup.

Nigeria, with a better position in the race for the next round ticket thanks to having three points, chose to play deep, defensively, with the intention of finding a draw. That tactic made them almost harmless in attack, despite having the speedy striker Ahmed Musa.

After conceding the goal, they could not push their formation and speed higher, because Argentina was playing very excitedly and was superior in ball control.

It was not until the second half that Nigeria really "warmed up". Thanks to their physical and speed advantage, this young team began to cause difficulties for Argentina, who took the field with the oldest average age in the history of World Cups - 30 years and 189 days.

In that match, Mascherano, 34 years old, the oldest of the 11 Argentine players on the field, became the weakest link. This veteran midfielder was the one who caused the home team to concede a penalty in the 48th minute, when he pulled down an opponent in the penalty area. From the 11-meter mark, Victor Moses easily defeated goalkeeper Armani, equalizing 1-1.

The game changed quickly after that equalizer. Nigeria regained their excitement and had many dangerous attacks, when they took advantage of the speed of Musa and Ndidi to exploit the slowness of Mascherano.

Argentina returned to the same heavy, uninspired image as the previous two matches. Banega and Messi were the rare links who played with flair, but not enough to lift the whole team around them. Coach Sampaoli's personnel adjustments were also ineffective.

Mascherano (number 14) in the foul that led to the penalty that Moses equalized for Nigeria.

Argentina escaped with a penalty after VAR saved them from a handball by Rojo in the box, but Messi and his teammates were unable to get going after that.

Argentina's attacks were either stopped by their own final missteps or by quick, forceful intervention from the opposition. However, a moment of brilliance from Rojo, with a neat finish after receiving the ball from Mercado, opened the way for the runners-up.

Thanks to that goal, Argentina had more strength to stand firm in the final minutes of the match, facing the suffocating pressure from Nigeria. Even Messi played fiercely, tackling like a defender, accepting a yellow card for deliberately causing trouble to prolong the game in the last few minutes.

That effort helped them maintain the score 2-1 until the end of the match, and secure a ticket to the next round. In the round of 16, Argentina will meet France - the team that won Group C - on June 30.