ARGENTINA CRASH HELPED US

CHELSEA winger Willian says Brazil were inspired to their win over Costa Rica by Argentina’s meltdown against Croatia.

Tite’s five-time champions grabbed a last-gasp victory on Friday.

Less than 24 hours earlier, however, Argentina crashed to a humiliating defeat by Croatia to leave Jorge Sampaoli’s job in jeopardy. They must beat Nigeria on Tuesday to have any chance of avoiding a shock exit.

Willian said: “What happened to Argentina helped us to come to the Costa Rica game more focused.” He believes this is the most wide-open World Cup he can remember, saying: “Year by year, other teams have improved a lot, so we have to continue improving ourselves.”