Messi’s Argentina is at Risk of Early Elimination after Croatia Drubbing

Lionel Messi and his team Argentina’s World Cup dream was left hanging which possibly lead them towards a humiliating World Cup exit on Thursday after they were defeated 3-0 by Croatia.
Argentina team has collected just one point from their first two games against Iceland and the Croatians, who advanced to the knock-out phase thanks to second-half goals from Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic.
The South Americans missed a number of chances in the first half, the best of which fell to Enzo Perez who missed an open goal after the ball fell to him following a mix-up in the Croatian defence.
Argentina’s frustration was evident as Nicolas Otamendi kicked the ball into Rakitic after he won a free-kick, which the Barcelona midfielder then dispatched against the frame of the goal.
The Group D defeat means they will probably have to beat Nigeria in their last game and hope other results go their way to avoid elimination.
It was the heaviest defeat for the two-time world champions in the first round group stages of a World Cup tournament since they lost 6-1 to Czechoslovakia in 1958.
Messi, who had a penalty saved in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Iceland, was again below-par and saw Rakitic block his only real opportunity across the 90 minutes.
In stark contrast, his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who last month won his fifth Champions League winner’s medal, has already scored four goals in Russia and looks a shoo-in to win his sixth world player of the year award.
“I had to devise a plan for this match. If I had set things up differently, things might have turned out much better. I don’t think it?s realistic to put the burden on Caballero,” said Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli.
“From day one I’ve trusted my team. I didn’t believe we would be through after the second game, but I believed we would be through eventually,” said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic.
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