Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has opened up on why he didn't play well in Argentina's 4-2 loss to Nigeria in an international friendly in Krasnodar last month.

What the Nigerian fans took away from the performance of Alex Iwobi against the two-time world champions was when the Arsenal winger embarrassed Mascherano with a nutmeg in the build-up to Nigeria's fourth goal.

''I never excused myself from the things that were happening, I was physically depleted and that prevented me from doing some things, but I did not finish it,'' Mascherano told TyC Sports.

''I did not put in one hundred percent as I could go, in the end you end up realizing that it is irresponsible because you can harm the team, I will not do it in a World Cup, forget, this was a friendly, and nobody obliges us to do the things we do.''

Looking ahead to the 2018 World Cup, the Barcelona number 14 said : ''By names, people may think that it is not complicated, but by the quality of the players that each team has, it is a fairly even group.

''You have to be aware that our level now is not the best. Maybe in June it will be something else. We have the obligation to get to the first match in the best way . If you know before six months it is going to be complicated, you have no excuses.''

Mascherano captained Argentina at the 2010 World Cup in their 1-0 win over Nigeria and was handed the armband in the absence of Messi in November's friendly in Southern Russia.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : thenff.com