WORLD CUP FOCUS: Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr reveals plan to stop Lionel Messi

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Wednesday Apr 04, 2018. 13:30

Nigeria senior national team coach Gernot Rohr says he is working on a plan to stop Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Rohr has revealed another possible way to ensure that the Barcelona talisman does not hurt his team is to work as a collective.

The Franco-German tactician knows the importance of the player's influence in the Albiceleste and has insisted that the Argentine skipper would not be man-marked during the match.

Rohr is also aware that the five-time world player of the year winner is managing his playing time for both club and country to remain injury-free in the final quarter of the ongoing football season.

"If Argentina wins its first two games, Messi may not want to play against us, that's another possibility," Rohr was quoted by FCBarcelonalive.

“In the alternative that he plays against us, nothing is impossible. The only solution against Messi is a collective and not an individual solution. We will have time to observe."

Nigeria and Argentina will face each other at the global showpiece in summer at the Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg, Russia