10 winners in 10 games so far at this summer’s World Cup. With the attacking prowess (some lad called Messi is apparently pretty decent for Argentina) and defensive inconsistency on show in the Argentina line-up, we’d surely be in for a lot of goals wouldn’t we? Argentina employed a 3-5-2 formation in the Maracana and got the better of Bosnia back in November using a similar system – would there be a winner this time though? Read on to find out!
Argentina’s attacking intent was evident right from the off as the wing-backs were pushed right up from the kick-off and the highlight of their first half came moments later as Argentina instantly found themselves ahead. The man with almost as much pressure on him as Neymar, Lionel Messi, lashed an out-swinging free-kick into the box for Rojo to head on to the unsuspecting Kolasinac off of whom the ball bounces and into the back of the net for the own-goal to give the South Americans a 1-0 lead.
Having watched Holland on Friday and Liverpool all season, you’d be forgiven for thinking that going ahead when playing the system that Argentina were would mean only one thing – we were about to witness a rout. In the first half this did not materialise whatsoever. Bosnia took a few minutes after the own-goal to regroup and collect themselves but once they’d managed that, they were very much in control of the game with Pjanic pulling all of the strings for the Europeans. The first alarm bells started ringing for Argentina when Hajrovic beat the offside trap to latch onto a chipped pass just metres away from Romero. However, he couldn’t quite control the ball and Romero was able to clear the danger quickly.
Bosnia had the initiative after this point and were controlling the game rather nicely; helping their cause was the fact that Argentina’s defensive unit didn’t look entirely comfortable in the system they were being asked to play and with Messi being bullied out of the game, they couldn’t really get going offensively either.
There was a lot of jeering in the first half from the Argentinian section of the Maracana crowd – Argentina didn’t do anything in the first half after notching the first goal of the game. In fact, with a bit more luck, Bosnia would have at least been level by now – they caught the Argentinian defence napping on a few occasions but they lacked that little bit of luck needed to give them that clear-cut goal-scoring chance.
Before the end of the half though, that chance Bosnia had been looking for presented itself to them but a brilliant save stopped them from taking it. Lulic, who frequently made a real nuisance of himself in the first half, got his rewards for his tireless effort by finding his way onto the end of a Bosnian corner. However, Romero was equal to the task as he sprung to life between the Argentinian sticks to dive to his left and tip the ball past the post to ensure Argentina went into the break in the lead.
Coming out for the second half Argentina rung the changes by bringing on Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain to replace Campagnaro and Maxi Rodriguez, allowing for a formation change to a diamond 4-4-2. Whilst this allowed the pace of the game to pick up somewhat, it didn’t immediately change the run of play as Bosnia continued to play very much on the front foot, forcing a save from Romero from a free-kick and a cute Rabona clearance from Rojo who was caught under pressure in his own area by the Bosnians.
The switch in formation soon started to pay dividends for Argentina as Messi and Di Maria in particular worked well with Gago to create small openings for the other attackers to get chances. At the hour mark, Argentina made their best move of the match so far with Messi and Di Maria again at the centre of it. Exchanging passes on the left-hand side of the box, Di Maria fed Messi who opened up to shoot before changing tact and feeding a ball out to the opposite side of the box for Sergio Aguero to run onto and attempt to play Higuain in who was on the edge of the six-yard box. The move broke down at the last but it was still better than anything Argentina had produced in the game up to that point.
That is until Lionel Messi switched on the style. A goal he’s scored a good hundred times for Argentina, the little rocket starts off a move from the centre circle before playing a give-and-go with Gonzalo Higuain five yards outside of the box. He then danced past two defenders before curling the ball beautifully beyond Begovic to strike the Bosnian goalpost and rebound into the net to finish off one of the moves of the tournament so far. Love him or hate him, only he can do that – a candidate for goal of the tournament most definitely!
Argentina were now comfortably in their stride and looking like the team that critics everywhere were backing to take the tournament. Bosnia will have regretted not taking their chances when they presented themselves because once Argentina were at their fluent best in this game, Bosnia didn’t look like getting another kick, never mind a shot on target. Stranger things have happened though, and out of nowhere in this game, Bosnia were on the score-sheet as Ibisevic was played in behind by a great ball before finishing through the legs of Sergio Romero to score Bosnia’s first ever World Cup goal.
With six minutes to go, a nervy finish was on the cards however Bosnia were somewhat spent by this point and enabled Argentina to see out the game and secure the 2-1 win. Far from convincing to say the least, but Messi showed 20 seconds of magic and that’s all it took. The South Americans looked much better in their second-half formation whereas Bosnia just looked very good in general. It’ll be interesting to see how this group develops! Be sure to stick with us here at Fortitude to see what’s what!