BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - SOME late magic from Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi led the South American team to a 1-nill victory over a spirited Iran side in their World Cup Group F clash and booked their spot in the last 16.
The Iranians looked to steal a point from the Argentinians until Messi broke down their resilience after 91 minutes.
According to Skysports, Argentina was the better of the two teams for most of the game, but their star frontline of Messi, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain lacked the cutting edge in the final third the beat the solid Iranian defence.
Just as the game was looking to head for a likely draw, Messi curled in a trademark effort past a sprawling Alireza Haghighi to guarantee Argentina’s place in the last 16.
In the Germany/Ghana match, Skysports reported that first half chances were at a minimum for the two teams until minutes into the second half when Mario Gotzebund led home Thomas Muller's cross to open the scoring.
However, two minutes later the Ghanaians hit when a leaping Andre Ayew headed home the equaliser.
The media franchise also reported that the Ghanaians were growing in confidence and took the lead nine minutes later when Asamoah Gyan hammered the ball past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer following SulleyMuntari's through ball.
But with some 20 minutes remaining in the game, Germany introduced Bastian Schweinsteiger and MiroslavKlose with the latter making an instant impact as he finished from close range Toni Kroos’ corner.
That goal leaves the 36-year-old Klose now tied with Brazilian Ronaldo as the all-time leading goal-scorer in World Cup history with 15 goals.
And Nigeria’s Peter Odemwingie dashed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup hopes with a 1-nil win.
The striker, Odemwingie, scored the only goal when he fired a first-time shot beyond the Bosnian keeper’ grasp.
