Rojo: From hero to a villain in days

After scoring the winner for Argentina against Nigeria, Marcos Rojo fouled Kylian Mbappe to give France the lead against Argentina in their round-of-16 match.

Argentina's Marcos Rojo fouls France's Kylian Mbappe.

Nothing can be more volatile than a footballer's reputation in the beautiful game and Argentina's Marcos Rojo wouldn't agree more.

The defender, who put Argentina back on its campaign in the ongoing World Cup by scoring a scintillating goal against Nigeria in the La Albiceleste's last league match, was at the receiving end when he brought a tearing run by Kylian Mbappe to a halt in the penalty box.

The referee was on the money to award a spot kick, with Antoine Griezmann sending Franco Armani the wrong way to put France in the lead.

Although Argentina equalised soon after, the lead was enough motivation for France to go for the kill and eventually triumph in the match to knock Argentina out of the World Cup.

Rojo, in fact, could have been a villain even before he scored against Nigeria. He headed a clearance against his own arm but survived a VAR review on Nigeria's penalty claim.

However, it looked like he was destined to be in the wrong books of fans. Mbappe, took the ball in his own half, cut four Argentina players to size on his powerful surge, leaving Argentina players in his wake only to be be brought down by a desperate Rojo inside the box.

Rojo couldn't hide is disappointment as he was booked, had a word with the referee but the inevitable was just waiting to happen. Needless to say, he was substituted at halftime.