Argentina 2 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 match report: Lionel Messi gets Argentina up and running with magical strike at the Maracana

Mercurial forward gets his goal at the legendary stadium

Argentina took over the Maracana and Lionel Messi eventually took command of the stage last night as Argentina defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1. The victory may well be the initial step on the way to Argentina winning the World Cup for what would be the first time in 28 years.

The two-time champions were somewhat underwhelming against a Bosnia side playing in their first ever game in a World Cup, but eventually did enough to put their first points on the board.
It was Messi who completed the win with a brilliant strike, but Argentina still have work to do to fine-tune their team. The experiment with a new formation did not work, and they were made to work very hard. The somewhat laboured display for much of the match, however, was at odds with their lightning beginning.
Argentina started with great attacking intent and they were ahead within three minutes.Alex Sabella’s side began the game at an extraordinary tempo, which brought them to the brink of the Bosnian box. The only recourse for the World Cup debutants was to foul. From the subsequent free-kick delivered by Messi, the ball bounced into the net off the unfortunate defender Sead Kolasinac.