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Heinze's header all the Argentines need
JOHANNESBURG - Argentina opened its World Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Nigeria on Saturday, clinging nervously to an early goal from Gabriel Heinze after failing to convert a number of clear opportunities.
Heinze scored in the sixth minute after taking advantage of slack marking to power in a diving header from 12 meters out on Juan Sebastian Veron's corner.
The Nigerians boasted a clear height advantage, but struggled for much of the match to contain diminutive Argentina forward Lionel Messi, who tormented them with his piercing movement and almost-magnetic ball control.
Striker Gonzalo Higuain missed three good chances, including what seemed a certain goal in the fourth minute. Messi, too, came agonizingly close on several occasions.
"We ended up suffering - that's the law of football," Argentina coach Diego Maradona said. "Thank God we won the game. To begin a World Cup in winning fashion gives you a certain sense of calmness."
Messi often struggles to reproduce his brilliant Barcelona performances for his country, but the FIFA World Player of the Year posed an immediate threat to the Nigerians in Maradona's first
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