FIFA World Cup 2014 Predictions: Match #11 Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina

Final Score

Argentina 2 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1

Overview

The eleventh match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina. While the South American giant will start the tournament as one of the favourites, Bosnia-Herzegovina is among those teams that football fans have hardly any hopes for.

Teams

Argentina: Argentina is one of the strongest contenders to lift the cup with a certain Lionel Messi who is arguably considered to be the greatest footballer of all time. Messi has already said that his country has waited long enough for another world cup since 1986. This match against Bosnia-Herzegovina will show how organised Argentina can be against a team which can hardly match their excellence. Argentina scored several goals in their pre-world cup matches against Trinidad and Tobago (3-0) and Slovenia (2-0). It did not concede any goals, and Messi scored.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: This is the first world cup for the south-eastern European nation. Bosnia-Herzegovina has a weak defence but talented strikers like Vedad Ibisevic and Edin Dzeko can score against any team. It defeated Mexico (1-0) and Ivory Coast (2-1) in its pre-world cup friendly. That should be a huge morale boost for the team. However, it faced Argentina in November 2013 when it lost (0-2). If this team has any chance against Argentina, the Ibisevic-Dzeko combination must work.

Head to Head

These two teams played against each other twice before. Argentina scored 7 goals and won the matches without conceding any.

Key Players

Argentina: Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Vedad Ibisevic & Edin Dzeko

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 7 pm (local time) on June 15, which means it is 8 am on June 16 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Maracanã - Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho in Rio De Janeiro.

Prediction

Argentina will use this match to warm up for the bigger ones. It will play clean, attacking but moderate football. It is simply unfair that Bosnia-Herzegovina has Argentina to fight against in its first ever world cup match. Messi will score. The final score will be 2-0 in favour of Alejandro Sabella's team.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au