'Mazadona' has called his shot at Argentina

Ibrahim Maza is 20. He plays for Bayer Leverkusen, where the supporters have christened him 'Mazadona' — and yes, the Maradona echoes are deliberate. Then there's the quote: he has said, out loud, that his team can 'beat Messi'. Nerve like that usually gets punished. Sometimes it doesn't.

And the swagger isn't hollow. Algeria roll in unbeaten in four, a sequence that holds a 1-0 win over the Netherlands and a goalless afternoon against Uruguay — the kind of evidence that has Petković's group genuinely believing an upset is on. Remember, this is only their fifth World Cup. They've reached the Round of 16 exactly once.

Now the 'but wait'. A fitness cloud hangs over Argentina: left-back Nicolás Tagliafico is doubtful, and there's real doubt over whether Messi — nursing an MLS injury — gets on the pitch from the start. The bookmakers still make Scaloni's champions clear favourites, and rightly so. Even so, the kid picked his moment to talk.