It was the perfect script and so it was: after two disappointing games and last place in the group, Argentina turned everything around in the final and decisive match against Nigeria. A draw was enough for the Africans, while for the Sampaoli national team (so to speak, given that in fact they were commissioned by the senators) a victory could not even be enough, depending on the result of the match between Croatia and Iceland. Instead Croatia won, confirming themselves first in the group and among the favorites of this World Cup, while the miracle happened in St. Petersburg a few minutes from the end: after an excellent first half, deservedly taking the lead thanks to a beautiful goal by Messi (with his right foot), Argentina in the second half sees the ghosts of the first two games again and five minutes from the end they are out of the World Cup, due to the penalty ( very doubtful) booed at the start of the second half against Nigeria and converted by Moses. But just a few minutes from the end, when everything really seemed lost, defender Marcos Rojo (also left-footed and right-footed) took care of it.
The goal of desperation, the qualifying goal, which sent the many Argentine fans present at the stadium into raptures, including a wild Diego Maradona. The goal, that of the Manchester United defender, who was also among the excellent players excluded from the match against Croatia, which despite everything, he sends the albiceleste to the round of XNUMX, where he will meet France. The providential goal that gives meaning to the splendid 1-0 with which Lionel Messi had unlocked himself: a goal, that of Pulga, which risked becoming useless and bitter. Instead the number 10, who in the national team according to someone has yet to prove that he is worthy of confrontation with Maradona, unlocks and will continue his World Cup, perhaps the last of his career as a protagonist, at 30 years old. Croatia, on the other hand, will meet Denmark in the round of XNUMX, who finished second in the group to France.
