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Messi magic floors Iran; Klose equals Ronaldo's Cup record

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Press Trust of India Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
Veteran German striker Miroslav Klose walked into the World Cup 'Hall of Fame' with a record-equalling 15th goal, bringing him at par with Ronaldo, as Germany fought back to post a 2-2 draw against Ghana while Lionel Messi's magical left-footed strike got Argentina out of the rut against a combative Iran.

In third and final match of the day, Nigeria posted their first win in World Cup in 16 years, getting the better of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0, as forward Odemwingie scored for the Super Eagles to keep them in the hunt for a place in the knock-out stage.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, are already out of the championship.
 

The day belonged to Messi, whose piece of individual brilliance in the dying moments of the match ensured a 1-0 win over Iran and assured Argentina of a place in the last 16.

For Klose, who was benched in Germany's 4-0 rout of Portugal, his opportunistic tap brought about the equaliser as the Bavarian army played out an entertaining draw against a a spirited Ghana side.

All four goals came in the second half with Mario Goetze and Klose scoring for Germany, while Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan netting the ball for the 'Black Stars'.

In the match between Argentina and Iran, one saw some dogged defending on the part of the Iranians who nearly snatched a point with their spirited display, before Messi's curling in-step left-footer beat custodian Alireza Haghighi, who otherwise had a splendid match.

Iran predictably employed the ultra-defensive tactic by keeping at least seven players in their own defensive third, which frustrated the Argentine forwards Gonazalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero even though the South American side enjoyed 75 per cent of the ball possession.

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First Published: Jun 22 2014 | 10:05 AM IST

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