World Cup 2018: 4 players who will be crucial to Argentina's success in the knockouts

#3 Marcos Rojo

Marcos Rojo

The Manchester United midfielder was undoubtedly Argentina's hero against Nigeria. Rojo who started against Iceland in the opening fixture was overlooked by Sampaoli when he employed the 3-4-2-1 formation against Croatia.

After the tactic backfired, Albiceleste switched to 4-4-2 for the game against Nigeria, and in came Marcos Rojo at the heart of Argentine defense.

Apart from scoring the all-important winner, Rojo who had the experience of playing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil had an outstanding night against the African side.

He finished the game with 79 touches, 3 interceptions, 100 percent tackle success and pass accuracy, won eight aerial duels and scored the winning goal for Argentina.

After sitting out the Croatian game, Rojo was fresh and raring to go and was simply the game changer for Messi's men against Nigeria.

His role at the back will be key to Argentina's success in the Round of 16 against France. He needs to replicate his form to stop the mighty French attack comprising of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud.