The world champion looks intact. He kept his identity, kept his hunger and looked solid at the back. He may shine more or less, but he always imposes conditions and plays with authority. Here it is Argentina, showing his virtues, is now at Soldier Field in Chicago, in the penultimate friendly before the Copa América in the United States. Ready to defend the crown won in Brazil almost three years ago.
The albiceleste clearly beat Ecuador, a respectable rival in South America. The result was 1-0, but they accumulated merits to win another goal. All is silence for Lionel Scaloni. The team continues its serious, convincing, winning tone. To not worry. As if thrilled.
Scaloni said Lionel Messi will play, but did not confirm minutes or his ownership. And he decided that the captain would start as a substitute just for a matter of managing the loads. “Sometimes there’s no need to take risks. It wasn’t for anything special,” explained the coach after the victory.
Scaloni handed the tape to Angel Di María and joined Lautaro Martínez (as striker) with Julián Álvarez (leaning left) in attack. The three are supported by a midfield consisting of Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso.
Espanyol’s Félix Sánchez Bas also reserved one of his most experienced attacking men, Enner Valencia, on the substitute bench. He chose to include an Ecuadorian team with a lot of youth from the middle up, thinking about pressing, closing spaces and responding quickly to a counterattack, believing in the inspiration of Kendry Páez, the talent that will finish only 17 years old and who in 2025 will be the shirt of Chelsea.
Argentina, with great patience, managed the ball and the times. He is not in a hurry. He slowly put Ecuador further and further away. In the first half hour, it hardly caused any concern with a half-turn from Lisandro Martínez that drew a good reaction from Hernán Galíndez. However, the dominance increased.
Until the 40th minute the world champion invented a satisfying partnership, one that also showed differences in the hierarchy. Di María played for De Paul and played on the right wing. The Atlético de Madrid player makes a vertical pass for Cristian Romero. And Cuti, central marker, almost at the door of the rival area!, controlled, hooked, raised his head and filtered an assist typical of the most sensible of midfielders to leave Fideo alone, flying. And Di María put him, in front of the goalkeeper, with class in a corner. “I didn’t think Cuti could do that. “He made a terrible mistake,” said the 11th later.
At 36 years old, Di María is enjoying a massive albiceleste moment. He has held it since the Copa América in Brazil. And it continues to feed. Not only with good intentions. Later, he took a free kick and his left foot hit the crossbar.
Messi replaces ‘Fideo’
The albiceleste number 10 entered in the 10 of the second half for number 11. Messi entered for Di María. Also Enzo Fernández for Lautaro. And with those movements, Julián Alvarez moved well from 9. After a while, Nicolás González and Angel Correa came on for Paredes and Julián. And very close to the epilogue, Lucas Martínez Quarta and Exequiel Palacios for Gonzalo Montiel and De Paul.
In that second period, Argentina came close to the second with a header from Lautaro to the goalkeeper’s body and with two headers that Enzo Fernández and Nicolás González could not clear. Leo moved naturally, made some good passes and had no clear scoring chances.
Argentina will now play on Friday against Guatemala, in Washington, the last match of the preparation. Then, Scaloni will make the final cut to the roster, from 29 to 26 players. Marcos Acuña completed the 90 minutes without a problem. Will Germán Pezzella come to terms? Now, the three who are expected to stay out are Leonardo Balerdi, Valentín Barco and Valentín Carboni. Once the roster is confirmed, we’ll just have to wait for the debut against Canada, scheduled for June 20 in Atlanta, for the Group A opener that also includes Chile (they face 6/25 in New Jersey) and Peru (6/29 in Miami). The world champion has arrived in full.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
