It was a nightmare for Lionel Messi and Co. as Lionel Messi struggled to perform yet again in Argentina’s second match of this World Cup. He was the first player to leave the pitch as he walked away with his head hung in shame as the match ended in embarrassment for Argentina.
Never since 1958 has Argentina had such a heavy defeat in the group stage of a World Cup. Back in 1958, it was Czechoslovakia who defeated them with a score-line of 6 - 1! Croatia themselves were not invincible but after the first half, on the 53rd minute, Willy Caballero attempted to lob a pass to team-mate Gabriel Marcado. He succeeded only in misplacing his pass into the path of oncoming Ante Rebic who instantly hit back at Argentina’s goal with a volley over Caballero’s head.
Almost immediately, Argentina brought in Higuain in place of Aguero while Paulo Dybala was introduced in place of Enzo Perez to offer more firepower. However, Argentina was up against the strong defensive shield of Croatia. Croatian attacks were started by Modric and Ivan Rakitic and soon came up with the final nails for Argentina’s coffin. On the 80th minute, Mordic took advantage of a lapse in the Argentine defence to drift inside Nicolas Otamendi and rifled a curling shot past Caballero’s right side and into the back of the net.
Rakitic soon afterwards curled his freekick into the Argentine crossbar and thereafter exchanged passes with Mateo Kovacic to tap in the third goal for Croatia while the Argentine team waited for an offside decision. The final score stood for Argentina on a duck and 3 for Croatia. Argentina will struggle to scrape through to the second round and an exit at this stage will be humiliating.
