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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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
