Messi's strike fired Argentina into second position

Argentina were facing enormous pressure going in to this game, with a lot of criticism directed at superstar Lionel Messi for not doing enough to prevent his nation's awful start to Group D.

However, Messi showed his critics why he is one of the best to have ever played the game with a wonderful goal in the 14th minute.

On the shoulder of a Nigerian defender, Messi received a ball which was played in over the top. The Barcelona man controled the ball delightfully with his thigh, and then with his left foot as he was running to evade the defender's intervention.

His next touch was as sublime as the first two, with the five-time Ballon D'Or winner stroking the ball home with his weaker foot past the helpless Francis Uzoho in the Nigerian goal.

Messi celebrated the strike looking like a man who had just won the World Cup, and in the context of Argentina's tournament, this goal was as near as it might come.