Aguero says Argentina may have lost to Nigeria because his team mates were worried about him

MANCHESTER City striker Sergio Aguero has revealed that it is possible that Argentina lost its recently friendly against Nigeria because his team mates were worried about his health after he was rushed to hospital at half time.

On November 14, Nigeria and Argentina played a friendly match in the Russian city of Krasnodar, with the Super eagles coming from two goals down to win the game 4-2. Aguero, who scored the second goal for Argentina, came off at half time after he complained of dizziness and was taken to hospital.

At the break, Argentina went in 2-1 up after Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for Nigeria but in the second half, Albiceleste just collapsed as the Super Eagles ran riot and tore them to shreds. Two goals from Arsenal's Alex Iwobi and another from debutant Brian Idowu who plays in Russia for Amkar Perm, sealed victory for Nigeria.

Aguero said: "The second half against Nigeria I could not see because I was in the hospital but when they told me how it panned out, I asked what happened. That happens sometimes, was it because they thought of me, or were they scared? I do not know.”

Reacting to the World Cup draw where La Albiceleste will again face Super Eagles, Aguero said he was more concerned about Argentina’s first two opponents in Group D. Both sides are in what has been dubbed the group of death alongside Croatia and Iceland and Aguero said he believes qualification will be hard.

"The rivals are not bad but let’s not say it’s very good for us. Iceland is one of the debutants, they do not play badly, they are a very organised team and they have Gylfi Sigurðsson.

"They are the first two games, they are the most important and they will not be easy. Croatia have a great midfield, they have Modric, Rakitic, you also have Perisic who plays outside and he’s very fast, so Croatia is a bit more complete,” Aguero added.

Nigeria will face Argentina for the fifth time at the World Cup on June 26, 2018 at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg. Former Argentina midfielder, Juan Sebastien Veron, has described the Super Eagles as unpredictable, adding that he was not comfortable with the World Cup draw.

A former Manchester United player who helped Argentina beat the Super Eagles 1- 0 in their group match at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, said no one knows that Nigeria will turn up on the day. However, Veron said the recent friendly result would not affect Argentina when both teams play in the last group game at the World Cup.

Veron added: “Nigeria is unpredictable and they always come to us in the group. African players are actually unstable and depend on what they have a day before and how they feel ahead of the game.

"Croatia is not bad, it has players in strong clubs in Europe, so they should not be underestimated. We are stronger than them, but we should be careful.”