Embattled Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli requires a moment of clarity and Nigeria must continue their winning run when Group D reaches a consequential crescendo at World Cup 2018.
Here are the key player battles ahead of this decisive contest at Saint Petersburg Stadium:
JOHN OBI MIKEL v LIONEL MESSI
Lionel Messi has just turned 31, but he has visibly aged by many years in Russia.
Even before Croatia tore Argentina into strips in Nizhny Novgorod last Thursday, you could sense all was not well with the apple of his nation’s eye.
He shrunk from the cameras during the national anthem as his hand reached for his brow and with every Croatian goal, there was an accompanying image of the Barcelona star almost urging the ground to swallow him up.
That Messi is unable to galvanise this Argentinian rabble will almost certainly go down as the biggest stain on his CV should they crash out at the group stage. Portugal have a sturdier midfield but nearly as many weaknesses individually – and you-know-who rarely shirks from the challenge no matter how dire the odds.
Messi has taken 12 shots already, the most by any player at the World Cup so far, and in reality he has one final shot to impress. Does he still have the strength of will?
There are very few occasions in which it is right and proper to compare John Obi Mikel to Messi though it by no means the first time they have crossed swords.
As he revealed earlier this week, Nigeria’s captain was a victim of the limelight-hogger at the 2005 World Youth Championship where he was expected to win player of the tournament. “But then Messi scored twice, both of them penalties, Argentina won 2-1 and I got the Silver Ball. Messi has kept on stealing awards from me!” joked Mikel.
While Mikel will never be mistaken for having Messi’s quicksilver touch on the ball, he plays in a far more attacking role for his country than he did for Chelsea.
As a No10, the 31-year-old releases the pacier, wirier forwards ahead of him in Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho. Interestingly though his tackle rate has remained high. His physicality along with box-to-box midfielder Wilfred Ndidi should give sorry Argentina more trouble.
AHMED MUSA v GONZALO HIGUAIN
Hotshot: Ahmed Musa.
Plenty of endorsement deals from Nigeria will be coming Musa’s way. He became not the only first Nigerian to score in two World Cups, but his nation’s highest all-time goal-scorer at the tournament full stop with his double against Iceland.
Those goals took his overall tally to four. And the bad news for Argentina is that his other two goals in 2014 both came against them, though La Albiceleste eventually won 3-2.
Musa is a centre-forward by trade though will arc in from the left and use his pace to worry full-backs. That’s what he did for his second against Iceland before his beautifully composed finish. Eduardo Salvio, more winger than wing-back, will not be enjoying this match-up.
Meanwhile it’s pick and mix for Sampaoli in this rag-tag Argentina side and Gonzalo Higuain appears the flavour of the day for this do-or-die clash.
Big man has replaced little man as Sergio Aguero is expect to drop out and with Argentina finding space in the box a premium, expect the wing-backs to start pumping balls in the box if all else fails.
October 2016 was the last time the Juventus hitman scored a competitive goal for his country – though that was his better than Aguero by a few months before he ended his own drought against Iceland.
Higuain at least, with just one substitute appearance at the World Cup so far, will be combative if nothing else and that’s what his side need with them backed up against the ropes.
Big expectations: Gonzalo Higuain.
FRANCIS UZOHO v FRANCO ARMANI
Francis Uzoho became the youngest African goalkeeper to record a clean sheet at a World Cup and he earned the accolade wholeheartedly.
The 19-year-old made an acrobatic save to keep out a stinging Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick in that all-important victory over Iceland.
He has shown rare maturity despite only having two first-team appearances to his name with La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna. And Argentina’s faltering, if star-studded, attack won’t have been giving him sleepless nights in the build-up.
There’s reason to believe Franco Armani has been tossing and turning, however. He will have watched on in horror as Willy Caballero’s fluffed pass led to Croatia’s opener. That gaffe is the reason why he is in situ between the sticks.
Armani, of River Plate, is in effect La Albiceleste’s third-string stopper with Sergio Romero out injured. Given that Chelsea man Caballero is a capable back-up at best, he is quite clearly not highly regarded by Sampaoli.
Will he prove an unlikely hero or just another victim of the Argentina horror show?
Record-breaker: Francis Uzoho.
