Messi Ronaldo Destination Mundial Part

Four minutes from full-time at St Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium there was bedlam everywhere. In the stands, Argentina fans descended into a ma s of limbs.Their flagrant basket-case of a team had just averted group-stage elimination at the 2018 World Cup thanks to a late winner against Nigeria. Diego Maradona has lost whatever semblance of the plot that the Hand of God was Rashaan Evans Jersey able to keep a grasp of. The national hero has been an erratic presence throughout this 2-1 victory.An hour or so after full-time, there were a number of simultaneous rumours over his whereabouts he'd been taken ill; he was in the hospital; he was still partying in the stadium; he'd gone to bed.Some of those journalists engaged in a game of "Where's Diego?" had been struggling to keep it together themselves when the decisive goal went in. One Argentinian journalist was asking anyone within earshot who the goalscorer was before running off in celebration. "Was it Enzo Perez?! Enzo Perez?!" he shouted.The ineffective Perez had been substituted almost half an hour beforehand, although what centre-back Marcos Rojo was doing in the opposition box to smash home a volley was anyone's gue s.MORE: Down on the pitch in the middle of the mayhem having leapt onto Rojo's back was Lionel Me si, enjoying a moment that explained exactly why he'd gone back on his international retirement amid a game and a tournament that did plenty to highlight why he'd retired in the first place.Me si's emotionally fuelled decision to walk away after the Copa America Centenario only held for six weeks. By August 2016, he was back in the fold after talks with new head coach Edgardo Bauza and scored the winner in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Uruguay the following month. "I see there are many problems in Argentinian football and I don't intend to create another one," he said. "I don't want to cause any damage, I've always tried to do just the opposite, to help all that I can."Persuading Me si to return stood as the high point of Bauza's reign and it was a good job he managed it. His Argentina simply did not win games without the number 10, who mi sed the three qualifiers after the Uruguay victory with muscular D'Onta Foreman Jersey problems.Draws with Venezuela and Peru were followed by a lo s to Paraguay and Me si could not avert a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Brazil. The superstar forward was suspended for a 2-0 reverse in Bolivia in March 2017.The following month, newly elected AFA president Claudio Tapia sacked Bauza as 11 points from his eight games in charge left Argentina's hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup in peril.MORE:The AFA had tried various approaches when it came to finding the right coach for Me si, from the me siah (Diego Maradona) to a proven winner such as Bauza, who had two Copa Libertadores titles to his name. This time around, they appeared to be onto a winner.Jorge Sampaoli led Chile to their Copa America triumph at Argentina's expense in 2015. Having been linked to Chelsea prior to the season, he took charge of Sevilla for 2016/17, leading the club to Champions League qualification and masterminding a famous 2-1 win over Real Madrid that halted a 40-match unbeaten run for the European champions.Sampaoli's stock was such that a plum European club job was potentially on the cards, meaning it was a coup for Argentina to secure his services Tennessee Titans Jersey . The prospect of leading Me si at the final World Cup of his peak years was undoubtedly central to the appeal. Like so many of the changes of course over the previous decade, however, an immediate upturn was not forthcoming.Argentina drew their first three qualifiers under Sampaoli, leaving them needing to beat Ecuador at Quito's punishing altitude to progre s. They duly fell behind to a Romario Ibarra goal after 38 seconds.Me si responded by digging into his reserves to produce one of the great international performances of modern times, compiling a stunning hat-trick to seal 3-1 win and book a place in Ru sia. Given the show Argentina made of themselves at the finals, it became tempting to suggest that he needn't have bothered.In the months between Me si's mountain-top mastercla s and the tournament proper, Sampaoli rattled through various configurations of players and formations at a rate that soon made experimentation look like panic.Sergio Aguero rifled in a fine first-half opener against Iceland in the first group game but Alfred Finnbogason swiftly found an equaliser. Me si had a second-half penalty saved and Argentina could not force a winner. in 2018, Iceland became the smallest nation ever to compete at the - and marked the occasion by drawing 1-1 with Me si's Argentina. | FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) Embarra sing but not a disaster against an Iceland side that held Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal and did far worse to England at Euro 2016. But Sampaoli saw fit to depart from his signature high line and revert to an untried 3-4-3 for the next match against Croatia.It proved to be a horrific mi step as Argentina were completely devoid of cohesion during a forgettable first half before unravelling spectacularly during the second period.The breakthrough arrived in the slapstick style as goalkeeper Willy Caballero attempted to chip a pa s over Ante Rebic and merely succeeded in setting up the Croatia forward to volley home. Tennessee Titans Hats Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, who enjoyed total dominance over a ragged Argentina midfield, piled on the misery to round off a 3-0 win.It meant Sampaoli's team needed to beat Nigeria in their final group game and hope an already- Mekhi Sargent Jersey qualified Croatia did not down tools versus Iceland.MORE:The main question on the eve of the showdown with Nigeria was whether or not it was actually Sampaoli's team anymore. The Argentinian pre s was full of reports that the camp was in mutiny and that senior players would select the team from that point, with their coach nothing more than a figurehead, claims that veteran midfielder Javier Mascherano denied.Argentina's formation and personnel changed again, but the evidence of Sampaoli's tenure up until that point meant it hardly amounted to a gotcha. As he did in Ecuador, Me si rose to the occasion with a magical opener, bringing a superb pa s from Ever Banega under his spell with two deft touches and rifling home right-footed. In his box, Maradona cro sed his arms over his chest and screamed maniacally to the heavens.The captain then struck the post with a free-kick but Argentina could not build upon his inspiration. An increasingly nervous performance took a wrong turn when alleged player-coach Mascherano conceded a penalty that Victor Moses converted. Rojo was the unlikely hero in a spectacular denouement, but it merely prolonged the inevitable.Lionel Me si, siempre genial! Contra Nigeria, el crack de anot uno de los mejores goles de la 2018 CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) Angel Di Maria scored a screamer and La Albiceleste briefly led early