Argentina enter World Cup pre-quarters with 2-1 win over Nigeria
St. Petersburg (Russia), June 27 : A late goal from Marcos Rojo gave Argentina a 2-1 triumph over Nigeria in their final Group D match here on Tuesday as the two-time champions entered the FIFA World Cup pre-quarterfinals.
Rojo scored the winner for Argentina in the 86th minute after Victor Moses' penalty conversion in the 51st minute had cancelled out Lionel Messi's strike in the 14th minute.
Following the win, Argentina have four points in total and they are second in the table, behind Croatia, who have nine points. The other two teams in the group, Nigeria (three points) and Iceland (one point) have crashed out of the tournament.
Argentina, who were on the brink of elimination after playing a draw against Iceland before a disastrous 0-3 defeat to Croatia in their first two matches, started the match against Nigeria with one point in their bag. They knew that despite a win against Nigeria, who were also in contention, their spot in the Round-of-16 is not guaranteed as Croatia, who had already qualified, played Iceland.
Argentina head coach Jorge Sampaoli, who had got a lot of stick for his formation of the team in the first two matches, fielded a classic 4-4-2 formation, featuring wholesale changes to their starting 11 comparing with the game against Croatia when they lost 0-3.
Argentina showed a lot of urgency, both up front and at the back as they began to prowl inside the Nigerian box from the start. Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria pressed high on Nigeria's box as they looked to make the best of their first appearances in the starting XI.
It took only 14 minutes for the Argentines to break the deadlock. Messi controlled with his thigh a long-range aerial ball from the centre of the pitch from Ever Banega before barging into the box and firing to the left corner of the net despite being pushed towards the right side by Kenneth Omeruo. Banega, who was not there in the starting XIs so far, had already repaid Sampaoli's faith.
Messi then provided a delectable bass from the right with a cross which put Gonzalo Higuain on one-one-one situation with goalkeeper Francis Uzoho but the Juventus centre-forward couldn't overcome the Nigerian goalminder in the 27th minute.
The Argentina captain almost doubled the lead when Angel Di Maria won a free kick 25 yards from the Nigerian goal on the left for Argentina in the 33rd minute after being fouled by Leon Balogun. Messi's left-footed shot hit the post after Francis Uzoho made a left-handed touch.
Both sides didn't create a lot of chances during the rest of time in the first half, with Nigeria hardly testing Argentinian goalkeeper Franco Armani, who as brought into the playing XI in place of Willy Caballero.
Four minutes into the second half, Nigeria were awarded a penalty after veteran holding midfielder Mascherano was penalised for holding Balogun inside the box while defending a corner. Chelsea winger Moses fired the spot-kick to the left as Armani dived to the wrong side.
Argentina lacked control in the middle of the pitch and Nigeria's confidence got higher and higher as they tested the former's resolves with several incursions inside the box.
Armani was later tested by a piledriver from Wilfred Ndidi from 25 yards out as the ball went over the cross-bar. Another chance came Nigeria's way as Odion Ighalo missed a golden opportunity to score on the volley after Rojo's header fell on his shoulder and moved towards the African attacker. Seeing the ball way off target, Ighalo later appealed for a handball penalty but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) thought it otherwise in the 75th minute.
Nigeria's hopes fizzled in the 87th minute when Gabriel Mercado galloped down the right flank and sent a cross to the middle of the box. Rojo met the cross on the volley as his right-footed strike sent the ball to the right corner of the net to give Argentina the 2-1 lead.
Afterwards, Argentina, somehow, managed to hand on to their lead as they secured a spot in the second round.
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59 percent voter turnout in first phase in J-K, polling peaceful: CEO
Jammu, Sep 18: A voter turnout of about 59 percent -- "the highest in the past seven elections" -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said.
However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.
Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections -- which covered 24 seats in seven districts -- ended peacefully without any untoward incident.
There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.
Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.
"The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.
He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.
Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.
In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).
In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).
In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.
Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.
In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.
In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.
In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.
He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.
Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.
PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.
Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.
Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.
The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.
In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.
The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.
Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.
