The Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel claimed that the super eagles were denied a ‘clear penalty’ in their match against Argentina when Marcos Rojo rose inside the box and headed the ball against his own arm. The match ended in a 2-1 victory for the Albiceleste as they secured a place in the second round of the tournament.
Nigeria got knocked out by Argentina, courtesy of an 86 th minute strike from Rojo just minutes after the penalty incident. The referee decided not to award a penalty to the super eagles after checking VAR replays. Had the penalty been awarded, the story of the game could have been very different as the super eagles only required a draw to see them through to the last 16 of the football extravaganza.
The Nigeria skipper Mikel talked about the controversial incident later on after the final whistle and said that they should have been awarded a spot kick in the game.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. “It was a clear penalty for me.” Mikel told reporters after the game, as reported by the Goal.com.
“If you look at the Portugal game yesterday, this wasn't close to that. This was worse. We have seen it again in the dressing room. It was a clear handball.” Mikel concluded.
Iran were awarded a penalty during a meeting with Portugal on Monday after Sardar Azmoun nodded the ball onto the arm of Cedric.
Technology was also used in that incident, but Nigeria missed out on getting a favourable call 24 hours later.
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