Argentina and Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo was a very unlikely hero yesterday as he helped his side complete a very unlikely group stage comeback.
Argentina faced extremely long odds of making it through to the knockout round, but they found a way, beating Nigeria 2-1 yesterday, with the game winner coming from Rojo via a wonderful looking right-footed finish in the 87′. They’ll now face France in the round of 16 on Saturday.
After the game, Rojo said he was inspired to greatness by superstar of superstars Lionel Messi, the team captain and leader.
“Messi came up to us and told us to calm down and not be stressed,” Rojo said in reference to the captain’s halftime speech.
“We felt nervous and that message helped us a lot and gave me personally a huge confidence boost.”
The best post match reaction of all however, probably came via Rojo’s mother Carlina.
She told Globoesporte (transcript Manchester Evening News): “When we realized it was Marcos, there was a commotion. It’s because the kick was right footed, and he only uses the right foot to support himself, we did not think it was Marcos.”
“He said that I deserved it all, that it was for me and that he loved me. I said before the game that he was going to score a goal and Messi two, for the people who were talking bad about Leo. Only one from Messi was missing.”
Messi did get one, so while Carlina Rojo’s prediction was off by one, it was still fairly accurate. However, obviously the Rojo family will take the result, and they will take the result by any means, left or right foot.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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