The first World Cup game at the Estdio do Maracan in Rio De Janeiro since the 1950 World Cup final when host nation Brazil were beaten by Uruguay 2-1 was on the cards for the 11th game in Day 4 of the World Cup Group Stages.
The match featured one the world’s best players and tournament favorites Argentina and tournament newcomer Bosnia and Herzegovina who were playing in their first ever World Cup game (Also first ever competitive tournament)
The spotlight switched to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Argentina as they looked to start off Group F with a victory, but they would come up against a very spirited B&H side who would give them a fight until the final whistle.
The scoring record for Bosnia & Herzegovina at the World Cup started off faster then they would have expected, unfortunately it was put into their own net by FC Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac after Messi whipped in a free kick from the left hand side that was flicked on by Sporting CP’s Marcos Rojo and off of the knee of the Bosnian to put Argentina up 1-0 early. Officially this was timed as the fastest own goal in World Cup history. Talk about a record you don’t want to be a part of, harsh on Kolasinac.
The 1st half would end with the same scoreline, although to Bosnia & Herzegovina’s credit they would respond well to the early mistake to finish off the half with most of the attacking chances. They didn’t seem afraid of defending Messi as he ran at them, and for the most part shut him the entire first 45.
The 2nd half would start with Argentina making 2 changes with Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain and Boca Juniors midfielder Fernando Gago coming on for Inter’s Hugo Campagnaro and midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. The major change took place at the back as Argentina switched from 3 to 4 defenders on their back line.
This would cause initial worry at the back for the Argentinians with the back 4 struggling early to work together. The first 10 minutes or so of the 2nd half belonged to the Bosnians who failed to take advantage of possession as Galatasaray midfielder Izet Hajrovic took control and helped Bosnia to a couple of decent chances in quick succession.
Argentina finally unlocked the Bosnian defense in the 65th minute when Messi latched onto a ball near midfield and ran straight down the middle of defense before laying it off to Higuain for a one-two backheel return that Messi then dummied and let run onto his left boot before smashing it past Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic to give Argentina the 2-0 lead.
The match surely seemed done and dusted at that point, and looked set to end in a 0-2 defeat for the Bosnians. They continued to fight and to their credit took the game to Argentina, showing little fear of giving up more goals and ruining their goal differential.
This strategy paid off for Bosnia & Herzegovina late in the 89th minute when VfB Stuttgart forward Vedad Ibisevic received a pass from Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic on the left hand side before putting the slightest of touches on his shot between the legs of AS Monaco and Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to make the score 2-1 at the final whistle.
Ibisevic’s goal in the 89th minute was the 37th goal of the tournament through 11 games. The most at this point in the tournament since 1958.
Surely little will have been answered here for either team in what is arguably one of the weaker groups of the tournament. Argentina will be hoping that Messi’s goal (only his 2nd in 9 WC games) will set them on course to return to the Maracan for the final on July 13th. Bosnia and Herzegovina meanwhile will hope that Ibisevic’s goal will give them renewed hope as they surely never expected to get anything out of the Argentina match, instead they can look to turn momentum into winning performances against Nigeria and Iran.
