2014 World Cup – Group F (FINAL)

This post will be updated as Group F progresses.

Group F Preview (Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria)
The Argentina group is just a pretty insignificant battle for that second spot, as the Argentines are BY FAR the class of this group and they are playing rather close to home.  Both Doogan and I have Messi & Co. going to the finals, and I can’t imagine many people not taking them to win this group.  Iran is not very good.  Nigeria is not very good.  That leaves a pretty nice situation for an up-and-coming Bosnian squad to get into the knockout round.

6/15, 6:00 – Argentina vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina
Argentina should come out with a clean 9 points, but if not, this might be the match that ruins that.  The Bosnian side has been playing well of late, though they are nowhere near the caliber of Argentina.  A point here for Bosnia – however unlikely that may be – might be all they need to secure that second spot from this group.

Argentina 2 – Bosnia & Herzegovina 1
Lionel Messi showed why he is considered the greatest player in the world, as he dominated the Bosnian midfielders all game and scored what proved to be a very important (and utterly beautiful) second goal in the 65th minute.  Argentina jumped in front 1-0 early, but seemed to settle in a little too much before Messi’s goal.  Bosnia added one late and even threatened a couple times for an equalizer, but in the end, it was 3 nice points for the Argentines.  Overall, however, I have to say it was a relatively unimpressive win for Argentina, but that may just be a case of Bosnia being really solid.  This match just reinforced my belief that Bosnia will be in the knockout stage as the second representative from this group.

6/16, 3:00 – Iran vs. Nigeria
This is one of the worst matches that the 2014 World Cup offers.  Neither of these sides are very good, though I do think Nigeria has a shot to steal the second spot from this group from Bosnia.  They will need 3 points here, though.  If Iran is going to make it out of this group, 3 points here is probably a must.

Iran 0 – Nigeria 0
Well, I have a new least-favorite team, and it is Iran.  I don’t really mind the Greek style of playing defense and counter-attacking.  I really DO mind the Iranian style of playing defense and NOT counter-attacking.  It was incredibly boring and a little disappointing that they seemed completely content with a 0-0 draw.  I am all for doing whatever it takes to give your team the best chance to win, but to simply show up at the World Cup trying to draw 0-0 seems very disappointing to me.  That being said, the Nigerians completely dominated this game and really should have had at least 1-2 goals, but simply failed to execute.  As much as I blame the Iranian style of play for this 0-0 draw, I also blame the lack of execution and scoring ability of the Nigerians.  It was an overall disappointing result for the Super Eagles.

Day One Recap
The one side that actually lost today probably made the most progress here in this group, as the Bosnians played right with Argentina, while the Iranians look like they’re content in just showing up to this Cup, and the Nigerians look unable to make any real waves here.  I am more convinced today that it will be Argentina and B&H to come out of Group F than I was previously.

6/21, noon – Argentina vs. Iran
This is probably the worst match of the entire group stage, as the Iranians are going to be so outclassed here, it is ridiculous.  They can play all the boring, conservative defense they want, they will not pull out their coveted 0-0 draw here.

Argentina 1 – Iran 0
“They can play all the boring, conservative defense they want, they will not pull out their coveted 0-0 draw here.”  Some genius said that before this match, and if not for Lionel Messi’s brilliance, he would have looked like the second dumbest person in the world predicting this game behind the dude that put $350,000 on Argentina to win $30,000 – which he won, but probably cost himself 10 years off his life in the process.  (By the way, the novice soccer fan I am can see how Messi – and Ronaldo – are just playing the game on another level; they seem to be the only ones I have seen that do not almost entirely rely on other players on the pitch).  Anyway, Iran is actually alive in this group, despite not really even coming close to scoring a goal.  Argentina, more importantly, has looked rather unimpressive in two touchy victories over Croatia and Iran, but 6 points is 6 points.  They should consider themselves fortunate to be in such a soft group.  Then again, nothing makes me think that they are any less of a threat to win the whole thing, but that might be my Western sports mentality of “survive and advance.”  That doesn’t seem to resonate as much with the international soccer community, who more believes in their teams being “in good form.”

6/21, 6:00 – Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Nigeria
Nigeria had a very disappointing 0-0 draw against Iran, but they played somewhat well and had many chances.  They did not convert any, which is partly on them, but we should not give up on them quite yet.  Bosnia actually played rather well in a 2-1 loss to Argentina and are certainly very much in the mix to take that second spot out of this group, especially considering the Nigeria draw with Iran.  The Bosnias only lost by 1 goal to Argentina and still have Iran to come, so they may only need to draw here with Nigeria, who only drew with Iran and still have Argentina ahead.  So, while the Nigerians will certainly be pushing for a much-needed 3 points, the Bosnians will be content to sit back and take counter-attack chances when they come.  This is one of the more interesting and important matches of the second round of action.

Nigeria 1 – Bosnia & Herzegovina 0
Pride for the Africans!  Nigeria snaps a 10-game winless streak at the World Cup and puts themselves in the driver’s seat to earn a spot in the knockout stage.  For all of their offensive frustration against Iran, though, it is not like they seemed to solve anything here, as they still only put one shot in the back of the net, and it was a questionable one, at that, as it seemed to some that Emenike (who was BY FAR the best player on the pitch on this day) may have committed a foul before the pass that netted the game’s only goal.  More officiating heartache for the Bosnians, who just a couple minutes prior, had a perfectly legal goal called back on a bogus offsides call.  This frustrating World Cup will end for the Bosnias regardless of their result with Iran.  The Nigerians, on the other hand, only need a draw with Argentina (tall task) and maybe not even that to get through.

Day Two Recap
Well, the Bosnians still appear to be the second-best side in this group and yet they are the only ones eliminated here after the second round of matches.  The Argentines are through to the Round of 16, despite looking shaky in both contests.  They are still incredibly dangerous and Messi seems quite “on form,” so the world should take notice – especially the Swiss, who are the likely Round of 16 opponent for Messi & Co.  Things look really good for Nigeria, who may have played themselves into a Round of 16 date with France.

6/25, noon – Argentina vs. Nigeria
6/25, noon – Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Nigeria
Somehow, there really isn’t a whole lot going on here in Group F.  Argentina has already clinched advancement to the knockout round and only need to draw with a subpar Nigeria side to win the group (which would be adviseable considering the second-place side here will likely face an so far impressive French side in the Round of 16).  Nigeria – despite an underwhelming performance thus far – looks in really good shape to advance on the heels of their win over Bosnia because any result against the Argentines puts them through, but as long as they stay relatively close to avoid getting caught by Iran.  Then again, getting caught by Iran would require Iran winning and Iran winning would require Iran scoring, which they have shown absolutely no ability (or desire) to do thus far.  They will probably take their 0-0 draw and go home thinking that 2 points and 0 goals was some sort of success.

Argentina 3 – Nigeria 2
Bosnia & Herzegovina 3 – Iran 1
Lionel Messi is leaving no doubt as to who the best player in the world is.  He has been – without a doubt – the best player in this tournament and has led his otherwise unimpressive side to a sweep of Group F.  Messi has already scored 4 times (at least 3 of which were entirely of his own creation), including at least once in all 3 matches.  And, they were gigantic goals, as the Argentines won each of their three matches by a single goal.  Messi scored twice in the first half against Nigeria (in a game that was tied 1-1 by the 5th minute), both of which were needed, as the Africans put two in the back of the Argentine net.  In the end, it was too much Argentina, but Nigeria looked good again and moves on to the knockout stage.  The other big story is that Iran actually scored!  They also gave up 3 to B&H, as the Iranians exit the Cup with an unimpressive 1 point.  They probably looked better than Cameroon, so you can put them at 31st from this tournament.  B&H looks good enough to play in the knockout phase, but it wasn’t meant to be in this, their debut World Cup.

Group F Final Recap
1. Argentina – Messi almost single-handedly swept this group.  It was almost assuredly the weakest group, though, so the Argentines will need to play better than they have if they want to win the whole thing – which is absolutely their goal.  While their group play was soft, their path through the knockout stage will not be.  They will open with a very tricky Round of 16 match against a solid Switzerland squad followed by a potential quarterfinal date with either Belgium or the second team from Group G (likely now to be the Stars & Stripes, but it could also be Ghana or even Germany or Portugal).  The performances they have put in so far will not get the job done as the competition gets much stiffer.

2. Nigeria – The only African side to qualify for the knockout stage so far (Ghana is still alive, though they need help, and Algeria looks like a toss-up), Nigeria has actually looked somewhat decent.  I did not expect all that much from this side coming in, but they have been buoyed by two stars – goalkeeper Vincent Anyeama and striker Emmanuel Emenike.  Both have looked as good at their respective positions as anyone in this tournament thus far.  And, when you get elite play out of your goalkeeper and goal scorer, you can beat quite dangerous.  The Nigerians will face France in the Round of 16 – the first ever WC match for these two – and may just be able to shock the world.

3. Bosnia & Herzegovina – Along with their neighbors, Croatia, B&H looks like an eliminated side that really deserves to keep playing.  They played Argentina awfully tough and then had an incredibly controversial loss to Nigeria that did them in.  They finished strong with 3 goals against Iran, but you have to think this side wishes they could take a shot in the knockout stage.  As Doogan pointed out in the beginning of this tournament – how good would a Yugoslavian team be right now?  With Croatia and B&H both looking very good in this WC plus a very solid Serbian squad that didn’t qualify, wouldn’t that be a loaded team?

4. Iran – Goodbye, Iran, no one will miss you.  The Iranians played with heart – I will give them that – but they just were not on the same level and tried to compensate for that by playing all 10 outfield players in their own end.  It was boring and annoying (though rather smart, strategically).  I don’t blame them because it was the best way to try and compete against players that are just much better, but I really just don’t want to watch them anymore.