Messi: We suffered against Nigeria

Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, said they were made to suffer by Nigeria in their epic clash at St Petersburg which they won 2-1 to move into the last 16.
The Barcelona star opened score in the 14th minute with a sublime finish following an exquisite pass from Ever Banega but Victor Moses responded with a penalty for Nigeria. The game was heading to a draw – which would have seen the two-time winners eliminated – before Marcos Rojo netted the decider – repeating such feat having scored the winner between the sides in Brazil four years ago in a 3-2 win.
“We knew it was going to be difficult but fortunately we have achieved our aim. We didn’t think that we were going to suffer as much as we have. We were quite confident that we would be able to go through and fortunately it became true,” he said

Messi stepped up once again when Argentina needed him, and seemed to almost become the head coach during the crisis period as it was the five-time world’s best player who delivered the half-time team talk in the tunnel with Jorge Sampaoli sidelined following players’ mutiny.  Sampaoli hurriedly left the field immediately after the end of the match leaving the players to celebrate their progress. The embattled coach was also seen celebrating alone when Rojo scored the winner.