Argentina  will seem like a pretty formidable force to the Bosnian-Herzegovinians, and in all fairness, they probably have a valid point, especially when scanning through the array of attacking talent on the Argentinian team sheet. Perhaps most important and notable among these names is that of Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Touted as one of the greatest in world football, his name is mentioned in the same breath as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Neymar. He has his detractors however, with claims that he has yet to prove himself on the World Cup scene before he can be considered as an exponent of the game in the same legendary and vaunted  company as Pele, Maradona and Zidane.

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This would seem to be a rod for his back of his making however, having scored just one measly goal in the last two world cups, a strange contradiction of his club form where he routinely destroys teams singlehandedly with deadly precision and swashbuckling grace. Indeed at club level, there are few who even come close to his equal, and yet World Cup goals just seem to elude him. Many would point out that he is employed for the team and that in international competition he must restrain himself and be little less selfish, controlling and disciplining himself into only taking on dead-cert chances in order to protect the interests of the team.

Messi aside, there are other names of real note in the Argentina squad.Looking at their front three would be enough to give any opposition manager a real nightmare in the aforementioned Messi, as well as Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Kun Aguero. These three stellar forwards are supported from midfield by one Angel Di Maria, and together in the Spanish speaking world are titled “Los Cuatro Fantastico”, or in English “The Fantastic Four”. It is certainly an intimidating quartet, with all of these players employed by some of the richest and most successful teams in the world.

At the back though is an entirely different story and it is here that the Bosnian-Herzegovinan strikers (look out for Edin Dzeko) will hope to make a difference and perhaps catch an admittedly inefficient defence by surprise. The key battle of the game will be between Messi and Muhamed Besic, and should Messi prevail and find himself through on goal he will then be faced with what to do about the goalkeeper, one Asmir Begovic, a player who coach Safet Susic says he would never be able to replace.

Susic has insisted that his team are not here to be tourists and that will run out at the Maracana completely focused and ready to give everything they have, however he cites himself as a realist and has been quoted as saying that Germany, Spain, Brazil and Argentina will be the teams to fight it out this time round. One thing is for sure though, any stage upon which Messi is a performer is sure to be lit up from the beginning and with the Argentina coach cited as buiolding the squad to Messi’s strengths, this particular encounter could be one of the most destructive the tournament has seen.

Odds Comparison:

Argentina	1.36	1.36	1.33	1.36	1.36	1.40
Draw	5.00	4.85	4.90	4.85	5.00	4.00
Bosnia and Herzegovina	9.50	8.50	9.25	8.50	9.50	8.00

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update