Brazil 2014: Messi Praises Argentian Team, Pledges To Keep Improving

In the match between Argentina and Nigeria, played at Porto Alegre in Brazil yesterday, 25 June, Messi had scored two out of the three goals the country used in defeating the Super Eagles, who had scored 2 goals.

Messi who praised his team for their win, said they have improved from their last two games and will continue to improve and step up their performance as the competition enters its tougher phase, Goal.com reports.

"We saw a good Argentina, despite the two Nigerian goals. Now we want more, we have to keep improving.

"We said before, our strikers had to move a little bit more because we weren’t finding spaces. We had that today and we have to work, so the next game we won’t concede goals," Messi said.

Related: Nigeria Vs Argentina: Super Eagles Lose But Join Messi And Co. In Last 16

According to Messi, he is hoping to lead Argentina to their first World Cup trophy since 1986.

He said, "It’s a strange World Cup, with results we weren’t ex­pecting to see. We have to keep calm. We’re still behind our dream, the dream we all want."

Messi was announced as the man of the match of the encounter between Nigeria and Argentina by FIFA.

However, Nigeria qualified for the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup despite falling to a 3-2 defeat to Argentina.

Speaking to newsmen after the match, head coach of the Nigerian team, Stephen Keshi attributed the Super Eagles defeat to his players giving too much respect to their opponent especially in the first half.