"When you have a Lionel Messi on the right side, coming in on his left foot, you must have a very good defender with a very good right foot also...[Idowu] is much better defender, he did well, especially against Messi, he can play both with his left and right foot. So if you have such a good player [as Messi], you have to have good defenders," Rohr said.

He added that Brian Idowu had fitted in seamlessly well into the Nigeria team since making his debut against Argentina in a friendly in November 2017 and it was the 26-year-old's dream to play a World Cup match in Saint Petersburg, the city where he was born.

"For him, it's more than football. It's a wonderful story and with few more minutes and a goal, this story would have been perfect," Rohr said.

Idowu was born in St. Petersburg in 1992 and started his youth career in local club Zenit.

A draw would have been enough for Nigeria to qualify for the round of 16. They were insight of achieving that goal after Victor Moses’s penalty had canceled out Lionel Messi’s early goal.

However, Argentina left it late to secure a 2-1 victory in the 86th minute of the match through Marcos Rojo, which saw them through to the round of 16, where hey will face France in Kazan on Saturday.