Argentina vs. Chile match preview, Diego Maradona shirt, Post-Game discussion

By
Osvaldo Godoy
-
147

Argentina host Chile this Thursday at 8 p.m. (ET)at the Estadio Único of Santiago del Estero for Matchday 7 of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers.

After the suspensions of Matchdays 5 and 6 in March of this year, the endless wait to watch the Argentina national team is over. It will be Argentina’s first appearance after Diego Maradona’s death (November 25th, 2020) and the first game since the Albiceleste’s 2-0 victory vs. Peru on November 17th, 2020.

Hence, Argentina is preparing a special tribute for the legend: The national team will enter the pitch wearing a special shirt honoring Maradona. AFA wanted Argentina to play with this shirt throughout the whole game, but FIFA rejected the request. However, per a report by Doble Amarilla, the government of Santiago del Estero will unveil a 5-meter statue of the genius.

With 10 points, Argentina is currently positioned 2nd in the standings, while Chile is 6th with 4 points. The top 4 teams qualify to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while the 5th will play a play-off with another confederation’s team. Up to now, there have been played just four matchdays out of 18.

Argentina previous games:
1-0 vs. Ecuador (Home)
2-1 vs. Bolivia (Away)
1-1 vs. Paraguay (Home)
2-0 vs. Peru (Away)

Chile previous games:
1-2 vs. Uruguay (Away)
2-2 vs. Colombia (Home)
2-0 vs. Peru (Home)
1-2 vs. Venezuela (Away)

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni will not count on Franco Armani and Gonzalo Montiel since both player’s PCR continue to test positive even though they’re no longer contagious. In addition to the two players, Nicolás Otamendi will not be able to play as he is suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards.

In Chile, the Uruguayan Martín Lasarte will make his debut coaching “La Roja”. On the other hand, Arturo Vidal tested positive for Covid-19 last Monday and has been hospitalized, so he will not be playing today. From Mundo Albiceleste we wish him the best of lucks in his recovery, and we hope to him soon on the pitch.

Argentina’s confirmed lineup:
Emiliano Martínez; Juan Foyth, Cristian Romero, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Tagliafico; Leandro Paredes, Lucas Ocampos, Rodrigo De Paul; Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María, and Lautaro Martínez.

Chile’s possible lineup:
Claudio Bravo; Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Guillermo Maripán, Eugenio Mena; Erick Pulgar, Tomás Alarcón, Charles Aránguiz; Luis Jiménez; Alexis Sánchez, and Eduardo Vargas.

Argentina against Chile has become a big rivalry in South American football after the two Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, won by Chile. These two teams will see place against each other once more in 11 days, on June 14th (as CONMEBOL just modified the schedule New Argentina fixture dates for Copa America announced | Mundo Albiceleste), for Matchday 1 of Copa America Brazil 2021.

Make sure to join us on our Youtube channel following the match where we will have a live post-game discussion! Join the chat to leave your thoughts on the match!

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147 Comments

  2. foyth- romero- licha- acuna
    emi depaul paredes j.correa
    messi lautaro
    this team could be best balanced in this game

    i wanted to put a.correa caliber player in right back who can defends who can cross who can intelegent in pass … but no one like correa quality in that right back option correa is also not right back .. molina needs to see more game how he performs

    • How is possible to talk about Balance and want Foyth like Right Back ? A guy who cant cross the midfield ! My god …Some guys here dont understand modern football ! You cant succeed with guys who dont help the wings !! Why Alves, Marcelo, Lahm or Alba was the best Right Back and Left Back of the last decace ?

      • you can’t say foyth as bad .. his defence was not bad … but in this game both tagliafico and foyth wasn’t good in offensively and messi and dimaria wasn’t in flow .. in middle paredes was not also good .. you can’t make foyth scapegoat for his low effort in offence..

      • Foyth was in 3 man backline he was not the allowed to go forward,one time Mingueza went forward in Barça match and Koeman immediately substituted him. Foyth was disciplined in his approach. A player who played good should not be judged harshly. Why do not you say anything about Tagliafico and Ocampus.

  3. I did not expect big from this game to start with.
    A point is a good result since the team did not play together for a while and there are some new faces in the team. The lack of chemistry is understandable.
    This game should help the team to build.

    Negetives-
    -No chemistry
    -No Urgency
    -No creativity in midfield (Missing a Celso or a Palacios type of player. Even Acuna)
    -Sloppy Touches need more training.

    Positives-
    – New Players (E Martinez, C Romero, Lis Martinez)
    Emi Martinez did not have much to do but he look solid and need to be in Starting 11 from now on. C Romero was really solid.

    Good News-
    We got our players in the team now. Give them some time. Scaloni must try different players like Acuna and Lo Celso.
    These same players will have a better outing against Columbia as we progress.

    I ll take this 1 point for now but hopefully we ll get that 3 points against Columbia.

    We are not too derailed we can get back in line with more games with these group of players.

    Vamos Albiceleste.

  4. foyth wasn’t bad.. he provides extra layer of defence when it cost the offence.. foyth is useful when team needs to defend more.. chile goal didn’t come from ground activity it’s comes from freekick.. performance wise ocampos was 0 creativity but muscles power shows some good ball recovering activity paredes performance wasn’t usual good ,, both messi and dimaria was n’t in flow..

    j.correa could be very effective in such game

  5. The decisiveness, drive, technicality and work rate of Giovanni lo celso and Nicolas Gonzales was really felt in this match.

    To be honest Emi had nothing to do with that goal, that was actually a really good volley-cross to Sanchez. So in that case, I won’t put any blame on Emi. Other than that he had pretty much nothing to do except some good passes and few saves.
    Argentina definitely didn’t put their A game forward and thus this result!
    Everytime they had the ball they slowed down more and more and it just gave time to chile to sort out their defense. Nothing complaining about that.
    But it was a quite slow and dull performance from argentina. Understandable……these guys are playing after almost 4 months, but anyway let’s hope for the best and move on with the Colombia game.

    For me the star players are: ( and yes no Messi)
    Romero(**)
    Foyth
    De Paul
    Lautaro
    And obviously Molina and licha.

    Special mention to cuti Romero for his heroic display. It was his first game and I thought, just like any promising debutant, he would slip up at some point. But my boy, this kid is special…….fukking special.

    One thing for sure, Otamendi’s career is over for NT.

  7. I think this is what happens when we play with too many new people. Lo celso or palacios should have started. Di María should’ve been a sub. Start Joaquin Correa, papu Gomez etc. Anyone but di maria. Wish nico González was there. Defense needs to get to know each other more but Romero was solid.

  8. Foyth, Romero, Quarta, Lisandro, Molina. When was the last time such a young defence started for us. Cant remember even in a friendly match. They were not bad to be fair. But not tested by chile too apart from that freekick.

    Romero what a player he will be for us. My only request to Scaloni is dont drop Romero for Otamendi for next match. Either start both or dont start Otamendi. Romero is our future.Start him in every match, the more he starts the more better he becomes. Some one whome our defence can build around.

    Emilaino was not tested at all apart from that free kick. But he is far more comfertable with his feet than any of our other Goalkeepers. Need to see more of Emi for sure for the NT.

    The team looks solid. But we are not gonna score goals. Our only goal scoring threat is a 34 year old Messi who is the only player who tested Bravo. All the others even failed to get a decent shoat at the goal. I really dont get whats all the hype for Lautaro(Remember we had Bati, Caniggia, Crespo, even Saviola was far more of a threat and create something out of nothing). I didnt see anything special from Lautaro apart from that penalty chance created. Matter of the fact from any other attacking player other than Messi who looks tired and slow, but is still miles ahead and our only Goal scoring option. If we take him out there is no other goal scoring option we have.

    Scaloni have to figure that out. May be we were missing Palacios(Now dont tell he played, he played only 10 minutes)Lo Celso who is more creative and ofcourse Nico Gonzalez who has been a revelation for us.

  9. My team for the Copa America

    ———————Lautaro
    ——–Gonzalez————–Messi
    ————–Lo Celso—De Paul
    ———————Paredes
    —-Acuna—Martinez—Romero—Molina
    ——————–Martinez

    Just not sure for Paredes (Guido give more security and Palacios more football) and i would like Senesi who is a phenomen like Romero but Scaloni is blind)

  10. I think Argentina’s defence is solid. With Foyth and Romero on right side it is a wall there, Lisandro Martinez has good understanding of his area inside the penalty box, Tagliafico was okay, he needs to learn take the ball forward. When defence became solid now midfield is gone. Paredes De Paul need to increase their level we need their club form.
    Lautaro Martinez was bad today, his finishing is really poor. Di Maria does not perform for Argentina like PSG his UCL form was like fire but here in Argentina he is average

  11. Romero will have to start every match no doubt in that. Lisandro martinez did as well..
    Missed nico gonzalez and lo celso. Dimaria as a sub only.
    Taglificao is not national team level player. replace him with any LB.
    Molina is a better option than foyth.

  12. Honest thoughts about tonights game? Tonight we witnessed DiMarias last time ever starting for Argentina. LoCelso or Palacios are a must in the mid. Foyth started well and wasn’t all around poor. Romero and Licha were good, They need to be tried again against Colombia. Considering the amount of new players, Messi hitting the post and lack of chemistry against a Chilean back line that has played together for years, I’m ok with the result. We should have even won the game. It was a ratchet game that was full of fouls. Emi played ok too…will not fault him for the goal…not much he can do. Anyone who expects this team with a bunch of new players to have this telepathic understanding have clearly never played football…Chemistry will come…more importantly…The talent is clearly there…Also…Why didn’t Correa start? When him and Licha came in at half…Argentina began to create and cause some problems…My thoughts atleast

    • Completely agree with you. The talent is there, we are WAY superior to Chile in that regard. Certainly we will kill them first game of Copa is they scraped a draw today

  13. We will improve…A bit disappointed that Scaloni didnt recognize that Tagliafico was very ineffective today..and bring on Acuna for him..For those of yall that are criticizing foyth for lack of attacking display .it was a tactical adjustment made by the coach to play foyth almost as a 3rd CB when in attacking possesion..Juventus had been doing the same ..where Danilo moves into a CB possesion and the other centre backs move further wide to cover for cuadrado..this lets cuadrado to move higher up the pitch and take part more in the final third…Cuadrado ended the season with about 20 assists for juve..this is what scaloni tried to do here with foyth and tagliafico..but tagliafico rarely made and impression attackingly..Acuna should have come on for him or atleast Tagliafico should have played as a “danilo” and let foyth thrusst forward which he certainly can as he has done for villareal..most notebly his assist for villareals first goal against arsenal in the first leg….Anyway my other observations were that Messi was extremely good ..only bravo brilliance prevented him for a couple of goals more..We need to create more chances for EL TORO at the moment he is just feeding of scraps..in midfield de paul an absolute engine doing great work..paredes was a bit lowkey today..Di maria Worked hard a lot and credit to him for that ..the rotation of positions between messi di maria ocampos and lautaro was good to see but to no avail..we could possibly sacrifice one attacker for a midfielder say lo celso or even guido if we recover defensive cover during a game

  14. We just missed creativity in midfield… substitutions was good.. taglafico and ocampus wasted their side of the field.. draw not so bad cause Uruguay draw as well.. the future is bright

  15. For me, Argentina played nicely.
    Chile is playing together a longtime…and they have still that fighting spirit. They are below the table and on the verge of not qualifying. So the match will be tough.
    Argentina created many chances but their tight packed formation dealt it very well. Still we had many chances and what we were missing is mainly the second goal.
    Our team chemistry was not good. Some new players in the team who plays their first match. They played better. But more chemistry we will be fine.

  16. One thing is clear that we defenatly need lo celso or palacious(one of them) along with gonzalez in starting 11 because we play better with them as a team and create lot more chances with them.

  18. SO…. weak game for sure … Sadly the team didnt have balance. Argentina missed Lo Celso a lot today. Deception but some good news too

    Good:
    – Romero is the present and the futur ! Masterclass. Best of the game
    – Messi was good. Good energy, all the actions came from him like always
    – Good game of De Paul. Not enough effective but he work for 2 ! Give good balance
    – Great substitution ! Martinez was more secure than Quarta. Alvarez and Correa was ok. Good minutes for Molina who helped a lot Messi on the right. Not a surprise if we was better. Top minutes for Palacios !

    Regular game :
    – Martinez didnt have nothing to do… but he was very good with his feet.
    – Lautaro had a great energy but he didnt make the good choice to conclude.

    Bad game :
    -Quarta is not titular with the Fiorentina for a reason.. This guy dont have the lever. He is overated because he is from River … like always …
    – Foyth is not a Rigth Back. he is not amazing defensively and terrible offensively, destroy the offensive balance because he NEVER cross the midfield ! A Right back in 2021 cant play like that.
    – Ocampos : Madres mia … A ghost.
    – Di Maria : he wasnt horrible, but we see the same like since 10 years : a headless chicken
    – Tagliafico : River”s propaganda again …. Acuna is much better
    – Paredes : Horrible game. Fouls all the time, missed 1000 pass. Slown, coward … horrible

  19. performance of the game
    1.romero
    2.lautaro
    3.licha
    4.rd paul not best but decent
    this team play after long period this may effect play..
    and argentina passes not great when it’s comes to tight space .. they need to find way for chemistry and learn and train prepare for tight space play… player tendency of dribble needs to lower

  21. Emi Martinez was solid but he did not have much to do, Foyth was decent defensively but offered nothing in attack, he ain’t a RB that’s for sure, Romero was great I think. Quarta was bad…

    We should have started with Licha, Angel and Molina. Di Maria is done for the NT in case we needed yet another reminder…

    We struggled without a playmaker but whenever Lo Celso or Palacios play well, we play better as a team too..

      • I think that was not a penalty, it was very soft, and in any case Lautaro bullied his way through it, so if anything it’s to his credit…

        • It was a clear contact. Soft or hard, by law it was a penalty. I didn’t deny Lautaro’s credit but the weight on the pass from Di Maria was excellent…

    • Yes, Di Maria should call time on his NT duties. Ocampos is a joke and Tagliafico needs to stop those unnecessary back passes. Romero has cemented his spot in the starting 11. I think Quarta will miss the next match through suspension which will give Licha a good chance to play.

      • Otamendi is coming from suspension so Scaloni will play him not Licha 🥺 Personally I’m a big fan of licha. And another concern is Armani bcz he is favourite of Scaloni if Emi start instead of him i will be very happy

  23. Too much new guys in the team and team chemistry down to zero. There is zero off the ball movement and passing are not on point either.

    • Bro… Argentina dont have football chemistry since 2006. Dont put the guilty on the new players because they was the best today ! Ask yourself why Messi and Di Maria cant success one single combi after 12 years …

      • Did I blame anyone? Last time Argentina play, they were much better than this. Dont bring negativity here. We will discuss the fact here not blaming thing.

  24. Alvarez looks a real deal.
    I told before the match we are going to struggle without Gonzalez and lo celso. They both are irreplaceable.
    Poor performance by de Paul and paredes by thier standards.
    And I don’t want to see ocampos starting again.
    Romero was man of the match for argentina.

    • Yes. We need to commit more players in final 3rd & think beyond messi & lautaro for goal scoring. Apart from that we were solid in match. Except ocampos & maybe quarta, everyone did well. Smooth debut by romero.

  25. We have back pass expert LWB Tagliafico. Poor from him. Romero and Licha was brilliant. Midfield sometimes was non existent. They need time to gel…

  26. This team has no character, no talents, no potential, and no way to win any championship. We’re at the same level as Chile, Paraguay, and Peru right now. Slightly behind Columbia and Uruguay, and will be destroyed by top tier teams like England and Spain.

    • Within the players has no unity: they just play for their won skill but has no aim to win the game. But some changes looks good as CB pair Romero and licha seems solid and of course molina he has got little bit time but he shows he will be ready for future RB just need to focus on defensive little more and confidence. In midfield I don’t know what’s the tactics of scaloni about de Paul and parades?? Parades has no creativity it only my opinion but it seems that when molina came into the field de Paul and molina show their chemistry. Finally I feel Argentina was playing more offensively than attacking which is not the tactics in previous and it destroys the beauty of game.

  28. football is a game of intelegent mind and link up play between the player with short and long passes .. sometimes with narrow minds or intelegent link up passes argentina needs more aware on that.. in game both messi and dimaria isn’t in flow . argentina potential can be seen but they are lacking in master in such way but chile potential is lower but their play in this category was strong and it always came strong against argentina.. argentina needs to aware in there lackings

  30. For those who complain about Licha Martinez’s height and think he isn’t good enough playing in CB position look at Gary Medel, he is four centimeters shorter than Licha.

  33. argentina needs to learn things from chile.. chile was better team as unity but argentina was good but they are lack in this department same as chile

  34. I hope this lets people know how important Lo Celso is for us. Anyway lets not despair. I will trust that the substitutions will be good and help us

  37. We are missing a 3 midfielder.
    Tagliafico time is coming to an end with this kind of performance
    Ocampos only helping defensively
    The defense got caught ball watching.
    Our pressing game was isolated in the beginning
    It got a bit more coordinated at the end.
    We need acuna and an other midfielder.

  38. Foyth and C. Romero defended really well. Ocampus and Tagliafico are waste.Tagliafico is not able to take the ball forward with ball on his feet. Tagliafico very bad on the ball. Ocampus like in Sevilla is a waste. J. Correa or A. Correa should be on left wing.

    • Foyth is good with vertical passes but we are lacking crosses from that side. That one mistake pass gives me shudders. You can’t possibly say his performance was good all round and Tagliafico’s was bad all round. Foyth has had a mixed performance

  41. romero was excellent. in short pass football and chemistry chile plays better.. argentina was sit back lack of express chemistry between player.. needs more training

  42. 1st Period :

    No occasion, no football … Classic shit.

    Martinez 5 : 1 goal but he cant do nothing about it. Good with his feets

    Foyth 2 : Bad in defense … never cross the midfield … He is everything except a Right Back. It’s ridiculous. This team need a right back who can help offense too.

    Romero 6 : solid, nice to intercept.

    Quarta 4 : nervous, not amazing

    Tagliafico 5 : Okey in defense, try to help in the offense but not amazing with the ball

    Di Maria 5: try to connect but any good inspiration

    De Paul 6 : Try to cross the field, some shoot. Not bad

    Paredes 4 : 0 risk with this pass … very poor.

    Ocampos 3 : A ghost.

    Messi 6 : Very lonely. Close to score a second goal

    Lautaro 5: Very lonely too.

    • Foryth made many interception.Foyth played good.Argentina is playing with 3 man back line Foyth can not go forward.

  43. I want to see Acuña come on. And licha. And Foyth started off well but became shaky and conceded the unnecessary free kick. But we only have Molina and a debut for a whole half is risky

  44. Ocampos is good for nothing in the final third….. Rodrigo de Paul has no vision in the final third.
    We are missing lo celso and Gonzalez

  45. Tagliafico is not suitable for that role IMO. He gotta take the space and create a pass but he found difficult to execute 2 main task.

    • Yeah Tagliafico can not take the ball forward never wanted him to start. I saw Acuna warming up so Acuna can come

  49. What a pass by De Maria!! Foyth is is frequently shifting to a right center back in three man back line. So, stop complaining about his lackluster forward venture.

  56. Too bad about Buendia exclusion, hopefully plays next one. Either way, I’m just so happy to finally be able to watch our team play!

    Sofascore and Google showing 3-4-2-1 formation

    Emi
    LMQ Foyth Romero
    Di Maria Paredes De Paul Tagliafico
    Messi Ocampos
    Lautaro

    • Nah, I seriously doubt the formation, Di Maria as a right wing-back? He’s too left-footed for that role and his defensive work rate is not that high. If that’s the formation then Ocampos will likely play as a wing-back with Di Maria and Messi just behind Lautaro. I guess we’ll see very soon.

  58. Well here we go. First game since November. I am nervous as always but I am totally confident we can kill those traitors. Meanwhile I will try to watch Uruguay and Paraguay

  59. More transfer news

    Romero is moving permanently to Atalanta. Juve to get $16 mil. Romero honoured as the best defender of Serie A. That price is a steal for a player like him.

    • try telerium.me
      If you don’t know how to use it I could explain how. on some days it is tedious and others it is easy. Usually champions league games are hard to get but I don’t know about this

        • For every game there are several options to click to watch it. Click on the first one and it will take you to another page. Exit out and click on the SAME one a second time. If it doesn’t work work your way down. Sometimes there is not popups on the game itself and with some of them you can click out but others might take you to other pages. If you can not see the game because of pop ups go back to square one and some of the other versions of the game from other channels will be viewable

  61. Juicy Transfer Rumors –

    1) [RadioMarca] Bayern Munich are offering €80M for Saúl Niguez. Atlético will replace him with Rodrigo de Paul for €40M, beating Juventus, Milan & Leeds to his signature

    2) [TheAFCBell] Yesterday, Arsenal presented its first official offer for Buendia. The offer amounted to 30 million, not including additions or incentives. Norwich rejected this offer. Talks continue.

    Love RDP to Atletico under simeone. Never liked Arsenal, club is hit or miss but obviously way better direction that Norwich.

  62. Oh boy! I want this jersey. I will do my best to find it before I head back to the US. Let me know what sizes are needed for the Americans here… I will give a good price 😎😅

    • El Mongol hasn’t posted in here for quite a long time. Gonzalo and Imtiaz are also disappeared. Hope everyone is safe and sound.

    • i’ll guess that El Mongol avoids the “filler” speculative toilet water discussions in between games about favorite players, tactics, fifa formations, etc. I’m not judging the fillers btw, i find them amusing and fun.

    • I miss El Mongol, if I remember correctly he had some good tactical analysis that I could use more of. I hope he realizes that a certain (not toilet water but something else from a toilet) is not here anymore

  66. Vamos, vamos Argentina,
    vamos, vamos a ganar,
    que esta barra quilombera,
    no te deja, no te deja de alentar!!!!

    🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷

  68. Time to rally behind our team. Really hate Chile, unless when they beat Brazil :). But a win is very important also. It will increase the gap against a top 4/5 contender.

    Really hope Emi Martinez and Romero have a solid game. They have a commanding presence unlike others. I like the attitude of Emi. He should get a good run. He has the determination.

    I always like an early goal, settles by nerves. I will watch it deferred, so will try to stay away from internet 😉

  70. I hope Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Juan Foyth and Lucas Ocampos play well and cement their places in the team. If they don’t play well, I’m afraid people will get easily discouraged. We as fans aren’t patient enough, we are hot blooded today and ice cold tomorrow.

    • Ocampos is only playing because of Gonzalez’s injury. Even if he scores in next 2 matches, I think still scaloni will go with Gonzalez. Gonzalez can give more to the team and simply put he is just a better player.
      And I like Juan foyth at a right back in 4-4-2, because di maria or ocampos will be able to provide width otherwise in 4-3-3 monteil is a better option because that guy can provide width and he has some talent too.
      And this romero- quarta partnership can work…one is a no nonsense defender with some pace and other one is a sweeper.

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