World Cup 2018: Nigeria 1-2 Argentina: 3 key battles that decided the game

#2 Ever Banega vs Wilfred Ndidi

The player who really made it all happen!

To me, Banega was the best player on the pitch tonight. We could go on and on about why Sampaoli should have started him in the previous games, but tonight is about celebrating the heroes, and Banega really deserves to be.

It was him who created Messi's opening goal, finding him with a peach of a long ball from the midfield. It was Banega every time something good happened for Argentina in the midfield, and because Banega was shouldering so much work, Messi was free to play as a forward alongside Higuain instead of burdening himself.

Whenever Mascherano lost the ball with a wayward pass or he got tackled (which was a lot), it was Banega who put in the defensive work.

Wilfred Ndidi had a fine game for himself, and was the main creative force for the Nigerian attack. He completed 6 tackles and 3 dribbles, as against 1 dribble and 4 tackles from the Argentine, but he had no Messi up-front to lob the balls into.