3-1: Mascherano’s Argentina have redeemed themselves from a strange defeat on debut

Olympic Argentina overcame a first-round stumble at the Paris Games with a 3-1 victory over Iraq, with goals from Thiago Almada, Luciano Gondou and Equi Fernández, He put himself in a good position to advance to the quarterfinals, with his fate in his own hands.

The combination of Javier Mascherano He was unfazed by the precipice of elimination that defeat against the Asians meant and he jumped onto the field with personality, seeking victory from the first moment, albeit with a goal deficit, leaving the game to smooth entry. game.

Mascherano almost insisted on the same eleven

In the second place is the scandal of the match against Morocco, which made the atmosphere heavy, with a stadium covered with fences to prevent a new invasion of the field like the one that clouded the first match, which ended in a defeat of Argentina (1-2) at the end of humiliation.

Mascherano He once again trusted his gala eleven, except for Equi Fernandez, to hold the position of Kevin Zenon on the far right, to give that band more depth.

Now, Argentina must beat Ukraine on the final day of group B next Tuesday to enter the top eight of the tournament and get through to the direct elimination round, closer to a medal.

Almada can score

The Albiceleste threatened on goal in the 9th minute, with a chance Almada which halted the Iraqi objective. It was the appetizer of the goal that came four minutes later from the hand of the player who from January will be a Lyon player, playing in what will be his future stadium and taking advantage of a great assist from Julian Alvarez to overtake Argentina.

The one in Mascherano They dominated, but the second goal did not come and Iraq, a team that secured one of the last tickets for the Olympic tournament, was trying for the goal of a Rulli who had to work hard in the 27th minute.

He who forgives pays and Iraq draws

Almada He had a chance to score again in the 40th minute, but his shot was too wide, with an almost identical chance he wasted five minutes later. Julian.

The lack of force punished Argentina, which was already visible in the locker room when Ahmed Hasan He hit a good ball to the area and to the captain Aymen Hussein was imposed on Nicolas Otamendi to reach the break bound.

Triple change and reaction

The Albiceleste can not stand and in the game time Mascherano introduced triple change, carried Kevin Zeón, Luciano Gondou and Gozalo Luján, which gave the Argentines more bite.

The revolution took effect almost immediately. Gondou put Argentina back in front with a header from a pass from Zeno. The Argentinos Juniors attacker came close to scoring a third seven minutes later in a one-on-one with the Iraqi goalkeeper and he got it too. Giuliano Simeone at 77′.

But it is Equi Fernandez who achieved it in the 85th minute with a good collective play that allowed the Boca Juniors player to finish.