FC Amkar Perm and Nigeria’s Super Eagles left full back, Brian Idowu says they the Eagles are determined to ensure that Tuesday’s crunch Group D match against Argentina in St. Petersburg would be Lionel Messi’s last at a World Cup.

Speaking during a pre-match news conference when asked about the possibility of bringing down the curtain on Messi’s career on the grandest stage, Idowu said: “That would be our main goal – to make it his last World Cup game.

He added: “As much as we love to watch Messi play, he is playing against us so we only have one option. Of course, I would like to swap shirts with him but there are a lot of players I would like to swap shirts with in the Argentina side.”

The Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr however dismissed insinuations that Idowu’s comments might have the ill-fated consequence of providing extra motivation to the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“No, we don’t think about that. We focus on our game,” said the German tactician, who expects experienced midfielder John Obi Mikel to be available despite suffering a broken hand.

Argentina’s campaign in Russia looks bleak after Messi missed a penalty in their opening 1-1 draw against Iceland and Croatia making the most of an abject display from Jorge Sampaoli’s side to run out 3-0 winners and securing safe passage from Group D.

Reports of a mutinous atmosphere in the Argentina camp have dominated the build-up to the encounter which will determine who joins the Croats into the round of 16 in the ongoing tournament.