‘Deny him space’ — Ighalo outlines best way to stop Messi

Odion Ighalo, Super Eagles striker, says the most effective way to neutralise Argentina’s Lionel Messi is to deny him space to operate.

Ighalo said it is “near impossible” to stop the Barcelona playmaker from expressing himself on the pitch.

“Get as close as possible, don’t give him too much space to operate,” Ighalo told TheCable.

“He is a great player, it’s near impossible to mark Messi out for 90 minutes.

“He is one of the best player in the world, if not the best.

“It’s impossible, you just have to have your game plan to give him less opportunity that you can give him.”

Nigeria and Argentina are in the same World Cup group and they will meet on June 26.

The Super Eagles lost when both countries met for the first time at the 1994 World Cup. Argentina again defeated the Super Eagles at the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup.

The rivals met again at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups with Lionel Messi leading Argentina to victory against Nigeria on both occasions.

Both sides met again in 2017, in a friendly match won 4-2 by Nigeria.