Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has said that Argentina, being drawn with Nigeria again in the same group at the World Cup, means it will be tough for the Albiceleste.
Argentina and Nigeria will square off for the fifth time at the World Cup since they first met at the 1994 edition in USA.
In their last four meetings Argentina have managed to come out tops (USA 1994, 2-1; Korea/Japan 2002, 1-0; South Africa 2010, 1-0 and Brazil 2014, 3-2).
“We’ve got Nigeria again!” Rojo was quoted as saying on the Manchester United official website.
“I think it’s three or four times now we’ve been drawn with Nigeria and it will be a difficult group.
“Our group also has Croatia and debutant Iceland which makes things even more complicated in Group D.
“Hopefully, Lionel Messi will be in form and can do something for us,” the tough-tackling defender who scored Argentina’s third goal in their 3-2 win against Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup said.
Rojo added that he and his team mates would do everything possible to erase their narrow loss of the 2014 World Cup final by becoming champions in Russia.
“Obviously, it’s a really important thing and a big deal for any Argentinian to wear that shirt,” he said.
“We really feel the shirt a lot and we defend our colours. We give everything when we are wearing it and we want payback for the way things happened at the last World Cup. We will do everything to give our fans the possibility to celebrate winning the trophy again.”
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to kick off from June 14 to July 15 in Russia.