Argentina 1, Nigeria 0: Relief and Frustration for Los Albicelestes

After all the brouhaha and the hyperbole and the ridicule, Argentina came out today against Nigeria with a lot to prove.

Could they play well enough to remove that bitter taste still in everyone's mouth after their disastrous qualifying play? Most importantly, could embattled manager and Argentine legend Diego Maradona make the right decisions, and not demonstrate any of the tactical ineptitude that was so evident during qualifiers?

The answers? Yes and yes.

As rumored, Maradona was intent on a 3-4-3 formation, with Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, and Carlos Tevez up front. This trio has amassed nearly 80 goals for their respective clubs, and Argentina was hoping some of that individual firepower could easily be exploited against a porous Nigerian defensive backfield.

From the get go, it was clear Maradona's 3-4-3 formation was intent on keeping the pressure on a suspect Nigerian defense. Almost one minute in, Messi was already making one of his patented runs through the defense. And he kept coming and coming and coming; Nigeria clearly had no answer for how to keep Messi from exposing their defensive gaps.

A corner from the ageless Juan Sebastian Veron was converted powerfully by Gabriel Heinze. Amazing that Heinze was left alone to pounce a header without a man marking him. 1-0 Argentina, in the sixth minute, and one got the impression that the rout was on.

But that rout never materialized, despite Argentina's relentless pressure.

Messi literally walked his way through Nigeria's midfield and defense with great ease, yet goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama's fantastic netminding denied at least three, if not four, point-blank shots from Messi, in addition to a pair of shots Gonzalo Higuain clumsily failed on.

While Messi was clearly Argentina's man of the match, Higuain proved to be a disappointment; surely, those were chances he easily converts at Real Madrid, but a bad case of the jitters, rather than nerves of steel, was on display. Higuain's display was perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Argentina's play today.

There were plenty of positives on display, and Messi's spectacular play was easily the biggest positive for Argentina; throughout the match, we finally saw the Lionel Messi of Barcelona, terrorizing defenses and exposing spaces that only he seems to see, one that has been conspicuously absent during Argentina's rocky road through the qualifiers.

We also saw Carlos Tevez provide solid play up front, demonstrating his relentless play on and off the ball. He seemed to communicate well with Messi, freeing Leo up for several runs through the box. It's possible Tevez may not score at all throughout the World Cup, but his movement without the ball will make up for it.

As expected, Javier Mascherano assumed something of a sweeper's role in this 3-4-3 formation, and he rose to the occasion. Mascherano's had something of an offseason at Liverpool in '09-'10, but he solidified the midfield and prevented time and time again any chance for Etuhu and Yakubu to dictate tempo and pace.

Martin DeMichelis was solid in holding up Argentina's back line. He's a bit too cavalier at times with opposing shots through the penalty area, but he handled his role as expected. Any questions about Argentina's leaky defense were answered today.

There's still much work to be done. Against Nigeria, Maradona's 3-4-3 formation kept a breakneck pace, but Diego may be forced to implement a more traditional 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 against the very speedy South Koreans; against the Nigerians, midfielder Jonas Gutierrez looked woefully out of place, and every Nigerian counterattack stemmed from Gutierrez seemed out of position.

His defensive is a liability that can and will be exploited unless Maradona reverts to a formation that gives Gutierrez the chance to concentrate on playing an attacking midfield. Most importantly, Argentina's front three need to do a better job of converting their chances when they present themselves; against the South Koreans or the counterattacking Greeks, every opportunity is golden.

Relief was evident after the match, exhibit probably most by Maradona. But this victory was also frustrating, as Argentina's superior creativity failed to convert more goals. Still, it's three points, and regardless of the score, Argentina's got that first match—and those first jitters—out of the way. Expect to see a more focused, and perhaps more conservative Argentina when they next face South Korea.

Man of the Match:

Vincent Enyeama, Nigeria. His superb goalkeeping kept the rout from ever taking place. His fingertip block of Messi's right-corner shot was, perhaps, the game's best highlight.