Story of the half: A third minute own goal by Sead Kolasinic gave Argentina the 1-0 lead but Bosnia & Herzegovina then settled in, controlling large portions of the match.
With a five man back line, Argentina should be getting more action from their wing backs but Marcos Rojo and Pablo Zabaleta have found their attacks foiled by strong defensive displays by Bosnia & Herzegovina. In fact, the better offensive displays have come from the wing play of B&H, who managed 12 first half crosses through the impressive Senad Lulic and Miralem Pjanic.
Lionel Messi & Co. have been stifled through the middle where B&H’s holding pair of Muhamed Besic and Izet Hajrovic have been strong, laying some thumping tackles. If the Barcelona man is to leave his mark on this game his second half approach will have to differ, meaning we could see him n more advanced positions and floating out on he wings.
Make no mistake about it though, B&H is still very much into this match. Could we see a second half double for the Dragons to do the impossible?
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Goals:
3′ – After Mensur Mujdza flew in on Sergio Aguero, fouling the Manchester City striker on the left side of the pitch, Lionel Messi stepped to the free kick from 30 yards out, sending in a lovely left-footed curling effort into the 6 yard box. Marcos Rojo rose above Emir Spahic to nick on to the far post, paralyzing Sead Kolasinic who’s left knee knocked the ball into his own net. Own goal.
Other key moments:
13′ – Zvjezdan Misimovic cutting up the middle of the pitch, skips by Javier Mascherano and provides a sensational ball over the top to Izet Hajrovic, who was unable to get by Argentine goalkeeper, Sergio Romero.
14′ – Misimovic again on the ball and working Mascherano, gets fouled for a free-kick from 25 yards out that Miralem Pjanic fires into the wall.
20′ – Pablo Zabaleta barrels down the right wing but it’s B&H left-back, Sead Kolasinac, flying in with a brilliant slide tackle the rips the ball of Zabaleta.
21′ – Messi skips through the midfield and into the box but Kolasinac isn’t fooled, laying a thumping tackle that gets all ball leaving the Barcelona man looking flustered.
32′ – Mascherano rips a right-footed shot from 25 yards out but it’s right at Asmir Begovic, who bats it down and out of the way.
33′ – Edin Dzeko gets his first touches on the ball but it’s a quick turn shot from 22 yards out that flies well over the bar.
41′ – Senad Lulic loses his man to win the corner and his near post header is sublimely saved by Romero, who tips the shot just wide of the post.
LINEUPS:
Argentina – Romero; Rojo, Garay, F. Fernandez, Campagnaro, Zabaleta; Di Maria, Mascherano, Rodriguez; Messi (c), Aguero.
Goals – Kolasinic (OG) 3′
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Begovic; Kolasinac, Spahic (c), Bicakcic, Mujdza; Besic, Hajrovic; Lulic, Misimovic, Pjanic; Dzeko.
Key players:
- Zvjezdan Misimovic – The playmaker for B&H, he cut open Javier Mascherano on at least two occasions, playing lovely through balls to Izet Hajrovic and drawing fouls.
- Sead Kolasinac – The 20-year-old left-back, who represented Germany youth level before rejecting a senior international career with Joachim Low’s side in order to accept a call-up from Bosnia-Herzegovin, conceded the own-goal but played well besides that, proving himself to be a no-nonsense, hard tackling defender, who shows little fear of Messi and Aguero.
- Pablo Zabaleta – In Argentina’s 5-3-2 formation, Zabaleta is effectively playing as a right wing and while he’s getting forward the left side of B&H’s defense is proving difficult to unlock.
- Lionel Messi – Having a lot of trouble through the center of the park with Kolasinac and holding midfielder Besic working hard to double up on him with every touch.
Numbers to know:
90% – Pass completion rate of Argentina, compared to 77% by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
243 – Number of total passes completed by Argentina
12 – Number of crosses by Bosnia and Herzegovina, compared to Argentina’s two.
3 – Minutes it took for Argentina to score the nation’s third quickest World Cup goal ever.
Questions for the second half:
- Can Messi step up to the pressure? Messi has been unimpressive so far, struggling to create through the middle and finding himself in some tough tackles around the outside of the box. In the second half, he’ll need to find more space and create off the diagonals.
- Can Bosnia and Herzegovina take their chances? The Dragons are not going to get in often on Argentina so when they do, they must take their chances. So far Hajrovic, Pjanic, Dzeko and Lulic have all had glimpses but only the latter really forced Romero to prove himself up to the task.
