Messi taunted mesmerising skill and virtuosity, was denied his first goal at South Africa 2010 only by the acrobatic saves of Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.
Maradona prowling sideline area for the whole match, Argentina could not see the second killer goal as the uninhibited Nigerians came close several times in the second half to grabbing an equaliser. It was a rasping Messi volley tipped over the bar by Enyeama that led to the only goal in the opening minutes.
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Argentina had numerous scoring chances , no more so than Messi's charge on goal nine minutes from time. Another occasion Tevez triggered a counter attack from deep inside his own half in the 65th minutes set up Messi to shoot agonisingly past the post with Enyeama beaten.
Argentina's Newcastle United defensive midfielder Jonas and Nigeria midfielder Haruna picked up yellow cards in the match. Argentina have won all three of their matches with Nigeria at the World Cup after winning 2-1 at the 1994 tournament in the USA.
But Nigeria's had won at the World Cup was back 1998 when they beat Bulgaria 1-0 .