Lionel Messi has insisted Argentina never doubted for a moment they would beat Nigeria and escape from Group D. Argentina needed an 86th minute winner from defender Marcos Rojo to snatch victory and secure a place in the last-16 of the World Cup. It was a late, late escape for Argentina, who have underperformed in the tournament and had been unable to rely solely on Messi’s greatness in the first two group games.

However, Messi was back to his best against Nigeria and inspired his country to a scintillating fightback. The Barcelona superstar spoke to the media after the game and admitted the result was a massive relief after a difficult few days.

‘It was a difficult match because of the results before and many other things that have been said,’ Messi explained.

‘We knew it was going to be difficult but fortunately we have achieved our aim. ‘We didn’t think that we were going to suffer as much as we have. We were quite confident that we would be able to go through and fortunately it became true.’ He added: ‘We knew God was with us and wasn’t going to let us go out. I thank all the fans that are here, for all their sacrifice and to all those in Argentina that were always with us. The shirt of the national team is above all else.’

Head coach Jorge Sampaoli has reportedly fallen out with some players, while Sergio Aguero was dropped after being involved in a failed player mutiny that aimed to get their manager sacked. Sampaoli celebrated with glee when Rojo struck to rescue Argentina, but went straight down the tunnel when the full-time whistle went. Argentina now move into the knockout stages and will face Group B winners France on Saturday. The French too have been underwhelming so far, but Les Blues are yet to lose a game and have conceded just once.

source...https://metro.co.uk/2018/06/26/argentina-hero-lionel-messi-we-always-knew-we-would-beat-nigeria-7662802/

That's ma guy.........To hell with our Leaders,Nigerians are dying everyday.
#BUHARI SHOULD RESIGN NOW

Still assured of their progress in d competition. wanna c d best of Messi

ighalo gave Messi mouth to talk with those two great chances he missed yesterday. Messi would have been going home today.

He said so because he's the GREATEST OF ALL TIME(GOAT)

minasota:
That's ma guy.........To he'll with our Leader's Nigerians are dieng everyday.
#BUHARI SHOULD RESIGN NOW#

Our leaders are not your only problem, English is also your problem.

Caseless:
Life is unfair!

Life is fair when you capitalize on the opportunities given to you...no matter how small it is.