Argentina 3, Nigeria 2: Glorious defeat?

One struggles to remember the last time a Nigerian football team lost a match but emerged with so much credit at the end of it all.

To be fair, the boys that walked through the mixed zone inside the bowels of the stadium here in Porto Alegre had this air of a missed opportunity of getting at least a draw against Argentina around them.

To analyse this match one has to factor in the great compliment Alex Sabella, the coach of the Argentine side, paid Nigeria when – despite having already qualified – he wheeled out his big guns for this final group match.

Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Lionel Messi lined up as a front three. Messi had the licence to go wherever he liked while Angel di Maria played narrow from in to out, joining Gago Fernando and Javier Mascherano to form a midfield trio. Mascherano had the sole responsibility to protect the centre-backs cutting off the channels infield at any time when the Nigerian wide forwards decide to come in off the flank.

The Nigerian side lined up in the favoured 4-3-3 of boss Stephen Keshi. However, in this game the defenders were encouraged to squeeze up the play and hold a high line. Initially I was very unsure of this tactic since the defenders were not blessed with abundant pace across the line.

However, it made a lot of sense as this high line denied the space that used to and seemed to appear behind the midfielders in past matches, making the defence quite vulnerable and exposed to runners with the ball.

Defence: Skipper Joseph Yobo has more than justified his selection with his performances since he replaced the luckless Godfrey Oboabona. Should the latter regain fitness, one expects the skipper to retain his place. The other members of the defence all had solid displays recovering from that early Messi goal to snuff out the threats that Higuain and Aguero were supposed to pose. The winning goal from a header at a corner was the rare moment of lapse in concentration at set-pieces the team exhibited in the match.

Midfield: With di Maria dropping inside to join the other two and Messi dropping off the forwards to occupy the hole in front of the defence, the duo of Mikel Obi and especially the excellent Ogenyi Onazi were overworked and outnumbered. The Lazio midfielder had one of his best games by hunting down the man in possession quickly or nipping in and nicking the ball before danger develops.

Michael Babatunde also showed a lot of confidence to pick up the ball and drive forward and feeding into his forwards. It might have helped the team a bit more if he had stood with Mascherano each time Argentina started to build attacks. Only snag is that it might have emptied a midfield that was already being overworked because Messi was dropping in to pick the ball.

This writer wants to believe that Mikel Obi might just be carrying an injury. For it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why he is sloppy in possession but even worse shows little desire to get stuck in to recover possession. Absolutely staggering this player at the moment. The incidents that led to Messi’s excellent free-kick that led to the South Americans’ second goal all point to the Chelsea man’s sloppiness.

Forwards. When you have a forward line of Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel Emenike and Osaze Odemwingie you have pace to burn. The players just need to be released at the right time and defenders are gone. Argentina had the match plan of di Maria in field to stifle Odemwingie’s runs inside to his left foot. It worked.

The speed of transition from the midfield that led to Babatunde releasing Musa quickly shortly after Messi had given Argentina the lead is what the Nigerian team has been crying out for all tournament. The confidence that the CSKA Moscow forward showed in skipping inside Zabaleta belied his previous form. The violence of the strike was only bettered by the accuracy that had the ball right into the side netting deliciously.

Emenike found it tougher going because Argentina had a midfield screen and so rarely got the ball to feet. He however played a superb one-two with Musa releasing the latter in on goal. Once again, the finish was exemplary – coolly giving the keeper the eye and slotting into the opposite corner.

Overall, the speed of the first equaliser was a major factor on how the match panned out and Nigeria playing quite well. With the backing of their fans who made up 80% of the attendance, the Argentine players might have been thinking this would be easy when Messi scored after only three minutes. Musa wiped the thought clear within a minute.

It will also give the team confidence that two of the goals they conceded were from set-pieces not from some intricate play that carved the defence open.

The injury to Babatunde will give the technical crew deep thoughts on who plays that role for the round of 16 match with France in Brasilia on Monday.  A recall for Victor Moses perhaps?  This is clearly a team that is getting better with each match and the confidence rising amongst the players.

France are in my view the best team in the tournament thus far. They do not have a magician like Lionel Messi though, so that might give the Nigerian team a fairer chance of getting through.

Keshi is a record breaker as a manager so it is not beyond him to break another world cup record here for Nigeria.