Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Rio de Janeiro: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi scored the second after playing a key role in the opener to lead Argentina to a 2-1 win over World Cup debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina as Iran's Group F opponents kicked-off their Brazil 2014 campaigns at the iconic Maracana Stadium.
The Europeans were on the back foot with less than three minutes played when Saed Kolasinac scored the fastest own goal in World Cup history when, just two minutes and eight seconds after referee Joel Aguilar had started the match, the Schalke 04 left back deflected the ball into his own net after Marcos Rojo had flicked on Messi's early free-kick.
If there was more than a touch of fortune about Argentina's opener their second in the 65th minute was pure class as the mercurial Messi charged forward from midfield, played a neat one-two with substitute Gonzalo Higuin and skipped past Ermin Bicakic before curling the ball into the net via the right-hand post of Bosnia keeper Asmir Begovic.
The South Americans dominated the match but Bosnia-Herzegovina set up a tense finale when, with five minutes left on the clock, substitute Vedad Ibisevic raced through on goal and slotted the ball between the legs of Argentine keeper Sergio Romero to score his country's first ever goal at the FIFA World Cup finals.
Photo: AFP