Nigeria staged a superb comeback to defeat illustrious opponents Argentina 4-2 in an international friendly in Russia on Tuesday as both sides kicked off their preparations for next year's World Cup finals. Argentina looked to be cruising to an easy win when they led 2-0 after 36 minutes. Ever Banega opened the scoring on 28 minutes when he arrowed a free kick into the corner of the net and Sergio Aguero doubled their lead nine minutes later with an easy-tap in after a low cross from the right. However, Nigeria staged a stirring comeback to continue their recent impressive run of results that saw them top a World Cup qualifying group that included heavyweights Cameroon and Algeria as well as Zambia. Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back on the stroke of halftime with a superbly-taken free kick and Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi restored parity on 52 minutes with a composed right-foot finish following a low cross from Iheanacho. Two minutes later, Brian Idowu finished off a three-man move by sending a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area to make it 3-2. Nigeria further stunned Argentina when they scored a fourth goal in the 73rd minute, Iwobi nutmegging Javier Mascherano and rifling home. Two-time winners Argentina reached the World Cup last month when a hat-trick from Lionel Messi gave them a 3-1 comeback victory over Ecuador. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
