{"id":913686,"date":"2026-06-18T13:13:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/messis-world-cup-hat-trick-rohr-admits-super-eagles-had-no-answer-no-individual-marking-against-him\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:13:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:13:28","slug":"messis-world-cup-hat-trick-rohr-admits-super-eagles-had-no-answer-no-individual-marking-against-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/messis-world-cup-hat-trick-rohr-admits-super-eagles-had-no-answer-no-individual-marking-against-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi\u2019s World Cup hat-trick: Rohr admits Super Eagles had no answer\u00a0\u2013 \u2018no individual marking against him\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi and pip of Gernot Rohr. Photo by Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Former Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has shared his thoughts on Lionel Messi\u2019s remarkable performance for Argentina against Algeria at the\u00a02026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, Soccernet.ng<\/u><\/a>\u00a0reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Inter Miami star rolled back the years with a superb display on the biggest stage,\u00a0giving a reminder of why\u00a0he is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time\u00a0with\u00a0a hat-trick to seal a 3-0 victory<\/a> and help Argentina kick off their title defence in style.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The first of his three goals was a stunning effort as he received a pass from Rodrigo De Paul before firing an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Luca Zidane. The Algerian shot-stopper could have done much better with the second goal, parrying a strike from Alexis Mac Allister into the path of the former Barcelona forward, who calmly rolled the ball into the net.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0third goal was another trademark finish,\u00a0after he received\u00a0the ball on the edge of the box before curling a superb effort into the corner to complete his hat-trick and seal the victory.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Algeria at 2026 World Cup. Copyright: ImagoxSvenxWhitex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Messi’s treble saw him move level with German legend Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, tying the record for the most goals in the tournament’s history as he continues to rewrite football history despite being in the latter stages of his illustrious career.<\/p>\n

Soccer Rohr explains how Nigeria failed to stop Messi at 2018 World Cup\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The performance of the Argentine against Algeria also brought back memories of his previous World Cup exploits against Nigeria, particularly during the group-stage clash at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.<\/p>\n

In that encounter, the 38-year-old opened the scoring with a brilliant goal as Argentina secured a 2-1 victory over Nigeria,\u00a0which sent the 2013 AFCON Champions crashing out of the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reflecting\u00a0on Messi\u2019s latest display against Algeria, Rohr expressed admiration for the Argentine legend following another record-breaking performance.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr. Photo by Segun Ogunfeyitimi Copyright: xOlumidexOgunfeyitimixIMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic performance from Messi. Eight years after our games against Argentina, it’s wonderful to see that he’s still so fit and so efficient\u201d,\u00a0Rohr told Soccernet.ng\u00a0in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The former Super Eagles coach went on to explain how Nigeria struggled to contain Messi\u00a0in their clash at the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n

The former Barcelona forward\u00a0scored his third World Cup goal against Nigeria in\u00a0that meeting,\u00a0having already netted twice in Argentina\u2019s 3-2 victory over the Super Eagles during the group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Although he helped his side\u00a0reach the final of that tournament,\u00a0they eventually lost to Germany.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Lionel Messi in action for Argentina. Copyright: ImagoxMatthiasxKochx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\u201cWe didn’t have an individual marking against him. We tried to play collective defense, and despite our organization, he scored a goal. In the match, there was a penalty for us so we could go to 1-1, and in the end they scored a second goal, a shot from far, but Messi was the first goal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we were eliminated by his team. This wonderful player is still here and we are very happy to see such a great football player still on the pitch having a good World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Messi could rewrite more history when Argentina\u00a0face\u00a0Austria\u00a0in their second group game on\u00a0Monday, as another\u00a0goal would see\u00a0him\u00a0become the outright all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\"<!--Ayomide Oguntimehin” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/ycGEJDr9VZlpO_5zujn3ZdvICxA=\/150×150\/smart\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2024%2F12%2FAyomide-Oguntimehin-pics.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Chief Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.<\/p>\n

Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master\u2019s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Lionel Messi and pip of Gernot Rohr. Photo by Imago Former Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has shared his thoughts on Lionel Messi\u2019s remarkable performance for Argentina against Algeria at the\u00a02026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng\u00a0reports. The Inter Miami star rolled back the years with a superb display on the biggest stage,\u00a0giving a reminder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":913687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93020,2005,644],"tags":[108989,5489],"class_list":["post-913686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-messis","category-soccer","category-world","tag-messis","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}