During the second half, just immediately before the match started, Argentina captain, Lionel Messi had a talk with the team, he came out of his reserved personality to motivate the team. He knew all eyes were on him and the Nigeria defenders wouldn't let him breathe after slipping through to grab his first goal in the tournament.

Marcos Rojo reported that Messi hinted the team to be attacking minded and they should take all chances of scoring, they shouldn't wait till he score, that even defenders should aim at goal. It all seems it won't work after Nigeria was handed a penalty converted by Victor Moses but at the end a defender grabbed the win for them. Argentina will now face France in the round of 16 game.