Chelsea Legend Drogba Explains The Real Reason Why Super Eagles Were Denied A Clear Penalty

Published: June 27, 2018

Argentina sneaked through to the last sixteen of the World Cup after a controversial 2-1 win over Nigeria on Tuesday evening, the fifth time they beat the three-time African champions by a single goal in the group stage of the tournament.

There were two big VAR moments in that game in St. Petersburg, with one favoring the eliminated Super Eagles when Moses converted a penalty kick in the 49th minute while the other one, a clear handball by Marcos Rojo, was not awarded in the 75th minute.

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba believes Argentina would have been sent packing from the competition if the referee was brave enough to award a second spot kick to Nigeria.

''That's a penalty because he did not read the trajectory of the ball well, nobody touched him, that's a bad decision,'' Drogba said in his post-match analysis on the BBC.

''This is a defender's mistake, he did not read the ball well.

''It is a difficult responsibility to give this penalty as well because it will take Argentina out of the competition.''

Fellow pundit and Argentina international Pablo Zabaleta disagreed with Drogba but did not elaborate, simply saying : ''It's never a penalty, honestly.''

Nigeria would have qualified for the round of sixteen if the referee had awarded the penalty and they scored.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel