Argentina hope for a better show against Iran

Belo Horizonte (Brazil), June 20 (IANS/EFE) Argentina may have started their FIFA 2014 World Cup campaign with a win against Bosnia and Herzegovina but they will be looking for a more convincing performance when they face Iran in their next group game here Saturday.

An own goal by Sead Kolasinac and a Lionel Messi strike gave the victory for Argentina, but their performance must get better against Iran if they are to make a run for the title, reports EFE.

Coach Alejandro Sabella looked as if he agreed to Messi's request to switch the formation from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3, which the team played with 15 games out of 35 in Sabella's stint.

Argentina's expected line-up at Estadio Minerao would be Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Ezequiel Garay, Federico Fernandez, Marcos Rojo; Fernando Gago, Javier Mascherano, Angel di Maria; Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain.

Iran, part of arguably the World Cup's most boring match to date against Nigeria, will also look to give a better performance against the Argentines, knowing that their chances of winning, and even further, qualifying to the second round, might be impossible.

Iran are third in Group F with one point, while Argentina lead the group with three points.

--IANS/EFE

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