Marcos Rojo reveals what Lionel Messi said to Argentina players in half-time team talk

Argentina are through to the World Cup last 16 and it required some last-minute heroics from the most unlikely of sources.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 14th minute with his first goal of tournament, which was cancelled out by Victor Moses' penalty just before the hour mark.

As the clocked ticked down Argentina grew more and more desperate and it looked like they would run out of time.

But in the 86th minute, up stepped Manchester United's Marcos Rojo to lash home a stunning volley and secure a vital three points.

It meant Argentina leapfrogged Nigeria into second and behind Croatia, who did the business against Iceland.

Jorge Sampaoli's side have been poor in Russia so far and the fact they face France in the last 16 means they will seriously need to improve.

But there's reason to suggest they've turned a corner. Not only will the players now believe they can make something of their World Cup, but Messi has finally arrived.

SKIN OF THEIR TEETH

His goal was supremely well taken and at half-time the 31-year-old showed exactly why he's been entrusted with the Argentina captaincy.

In the video below, just before the players headed out for the second 45 minutes, Messi gave his teammates a rousing team talk. video link below

VIDEO LINK

So what did Messi say? Well, that much has now been revealed by Rojo, who claims his goal was inspired by the Barcelona man.

He said: "Messi came up to us and told us to calm down and not be stressed. We felt nervous and that message helped us a lot and gave me personally a huge confidence boost.

 

"Messi is our captain and he's the best captain in the world, it was amazing to score that goal".

"Messi told everyone that it was either life or death. It could've gone badly. We could've conceded but Leo was stubborn.

"He told me to run forward. Even [Javier] Mascherano. He told everyone to attack no matter what. He truly read the game and risks. He's a leader. The best."

Messi's leadership has previously been brought into question but he delivered a World Cup-saving team talk when it mattered most for Argentina.