Group D
Argentina (4)
Iceland (22)
Croatia (18)
Nigeria (47)
Argentina will have plenty of
spectating eyes on them and it won’t be due to how well La Albiceleste play their football. Lionel Messi will be the main
reason why most of the world will be watching the Argentinean national team.
Argentina had a difficult time during the world cup qualifications. Messi
scored a hat-trick to secure Argentina’s spot in Russia 2018. The national team
hasn’t played well at all, with the quality of players this Argentinean side
has there should be no difficulty against most national teams even without Messi.
Yet, that is far from the case. At times players that perform excellent for
their respective clubs are somehow weakened by the kryptonite that is woven in
their national team’s jersey. Argentina lost to Spain in an embarrassing fashion.
6-1. A goal shy on matching Brazil’s 7-1 to Germany in 2014. Messi did not
dress up for the match. He spotted in the stands overseeing what he will most
likely have to work with in the summer and no psychic or fortune teller is
needed to read what was going on in Messi’s head. Argentina are an awful side. I
wish I could say there is a positive to this side, but the only thing I can
think of is that Messi is on the team.
Argentina are a traditional safe
pick to win the group, but if they perform the way they have during the
qualifications and friendlies they will not make it out of this group. Nigeria,
for some reason will face Argentina for the 3rd consecutive time at
the world cup, will have a better chance on advancing to the knockout stages
than Messi’s national team. How? I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on friendlies,
but that is what I will go off on. Nigeria beat Argentina 4-2 overcoming a 2-goal
deficit. To be fair, Argentina has beaten Nigeria in their last two meetings at
the World Cup. Nigeria is a national side that has great players that can come together
and play well can definitely make it out of this group. A side with a mix of
experience and youth can finish second whether it be behind or ahead the Argentinean
Messi led side.
Croatia and Iceland both finished
first in their qualifying groups to earn an automatic bid for the World Cup. Unfortunately,
that is the only similarities I see between the two sides. Iceland will be
making their first appearance at the World Cup and is worth celebrating.
However, I don’t see them repeating a run at the world cup similar to their Euro
run in France. Croatia is a national team that has a talented midfield led by
Luka Modric. I think Croatia has the capability to finish first in group D.
Of all the groups so far, I can see
Group D as the most intriguing one to keep an eye on. As mentioned earlier
Argentina on paper should be the winner of this group, but the way they have
been playing I can see the serious possibility of Croatia and Nigeria advancing
to the knockout stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment