FIFA World Cup 2014 Day 14 Roundup: Messi and Argentina shine, Shaqiri hat-trick enough to see Switzerland through at the expense of Ecuador
The last day of the second week lived up to the World Cup’s now well-known theme of what we can now call “flair-football”.
Day 14 reminded us of how sheer brilliance from a single man can bring the world of football to its knees. Lionel Messi is here my friends. His third and fourth goals are reminders of his presence and we all hope there is more to come.
“Hey, you! The back four of Argentina! Just hold it there. Will you?”
The day brought forth the left-footed genius of not only Lionel Messi, but also a certain Xherdan Shaqiri who gave us a performance for the ages as he single-handedly dragged Switzerland into the knock-out stages.
Here is more:
Messi magic comes to the fore, Bosnia and Herzegovina finishes on a positive
With qualification nearly assured and nothing to lose, Argentina and Nigeria produced one of the most entertaining games in this year’s World Cup in another epic end-to-end affair.
After failing to find the back of the net even once in the 2010 edition, Lionel Messi has come to the fore in this year’s competition as he doubled his goal tally to four at the end of this game.
The Barcelona star struck early in the third minute and then went on to finish the first-half with another sublime strike, this time from a dead ball situation, each time giving Argentina the lead.
However for every time Messi put La Albiceleste ahead, Nigeria came storming back thanks to strikes from an inspired Ahmed Musa in the 7th and 47th minute of the game.
There wasn’t much joy to be had though for the African in spite of this inspirational performance. Only three minutes after Musa had brought the Super Eagles back into the contest for the second, the Argentines would throw cold water on their joys.
Marcos Rojo or rather his knee was at the right place, at the right time. A flicked corner-kick came and struck the Sporting Lisbon man’s leg while he was in mid-air and to Argentina’s great fortune slotted into the top corner of Vincent Enyeama’s goal to give the South Americans a decisive 3-2 lead.
Bosnia and Herzegovina signed off from the tournament with 3-1 thrashing of Iran. Iran’s slim chance of qualifying were extinguished with this hammering.With elimination already written in the stars for the east European nation, the Bosnians played with a freedom that many had expected of them in games previous to this. This win also marked their maiden victory in the World Cup finals.
The game was much of the same that you would have come to expect. Sticking to their principles, Iran depended upon their stout defence to carry them through, with their main offensive plan being that of hitting the Bosnian on the break.
However, all their plans were undone when Edin Džeko gave the Dragons a vital lead in the 23rd minute. That compelled the Iranians to come out of their shell and they were nearly rewarded immediately as a Masoud Shojaei effort thudded against Asmir Begovic’s goalpost.
Despite early second-half pressure from the Middle-Eastern side, Miralem Pjani? gave the Dragons a decisive two goal lead.
Javad Nekounam fluke of a strike had given Iran a glimmer of hope in the final minutes of the game. However, an immediate riposte from Avdija Vršajevi? killed off the game as both sides now head home.
Shaqiri carries Switzerland through to next round as 10-man Ecuador succumbs to goalless draw against France
Xherdan Shaqiri was the man for the occasion for the Swiss as the Bayern Munich winger scored this World Cup’s first hat-trick to carry his team into the next round.
Many had thought Switzerland would have been down and out after being trounced upon by France in their last game. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men however recovered to book their place in the final 16.
The mountain nation needed to better Ecuador’s result coming in to the final day of action in Group E, and that they did in spectacular fashion.
La Nati, who were up against the already eliminated Honduras team, dealt an early blow to the CONCACAF nation’s heart as Shaqiri hit an inch perfect strike into the top corner of Noel Valladares' goal, adding one contender for the trophy of goal of the tournament so far.
Shaqiri struck again as the game rolled towards the half-hour mark; this time slotting it past Valladares on a one-on-one to double Switzerland’s lead.
In an end-to-end second half, in which probably both team should have scored, it was Shaqiri again who made the difference. The ex- Basel man got himself at the end of Josip Drmi? rolled cross to slot it home and secure Switzerland’s fate in the 71st minute.
With France’s qualification all but guaranteed, the French took the pedal off the accelerator in their final group game against Ecuador. A flurry of changes from Didier Deschamp meant that Ecuador had a great chance to break through into the last 16 with a positive result.
But, Les Bleus were still good enough to hold the South Americans to a goalless draw. The result sees Ecuador knocked out of the competition, courtesy of Switzerland’s 3-0 win over Honduras.
The two sides exchanged goal- mouth action early on with Paul Pogba and Enner Valencia having the best opportunities for either side.
However, at the beginning of the second-half, Ecuador was dealt a big blow when Antonio Valencia was sent to the showers with a direct red being shown to the Manchester United man for his reckless challenge of Lucas Digne in the 50th minute.
Ecuador with a man’s disadvantage was hardly able to bother Hugo Lloris for the rest of the game. Meanwhile France created a number of chances, but couldn’t get the better of Alecander Domínguez, who was in outstanding form in the Amarillos.
The set of results mean France will square off against Nigeria in the round-of 16; while Argentina will meet Switzerland