Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Rodrigo De Paul score in 3-0 Argentina win at Copa America

By
Roy Nemer
-
52

Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul all scored for Argentina in their 3-0 win vs. Ecuador at the Copa America.

It was a match which saw Argentina have control of the ball and create many opportunities in the first half but only had one goal to show for it. Lautaro Martinez had the first real chance of the match as he was charging towards the penalty area, beat the goalkeeper but his effort was cleared off the line.

The biggest chance of the match at the time fell to Lionel Messi. A back pass by Ecuador and the ball fell to Lionel Messi who was one on one with the goalkeeper but his effort hit the post.

That’s not to say that Ecuador did not have chances. Two crosses inside the Argentina penalty area as they almsot scored but both efforts went just wide.

Rodrigo De Paul got the first goal of the match off a play started by Messi himself. Messi with a ball into Nicolas Gonzalez but he was taken out by the goalkeeper as the ball fell to Messi once more. While most expected him to shoot for goal, he would play a pass into Rodrigo De Paul and he would control the ball and place it in the corner of the net to give Argentina the 1-0 lead.

Nicolas Gonzalez had a chance to double the lead. A free kick for Argentina as Messi would cross it into the penalty area but Gonzalez would have his header saved by the goalkeeper and his effort off the rebound would be saved.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni would make several changes, one of which saw Guido Rodriguez and Angel Di Maria come in. Guido added some much needed stability for Argentina as Di Maria was a threat moving forward.

Angel Di Maria would pressure the Ecuadorian back line and win the ball back as he would pass it to Messi and Messi would play it to Lautaro Martinez who would place the ball into the top corner of the net to give Argentina the 2-0 lead.

De Paul would play a cross from deep which found Di Maria and he would get taken down on the edge of the penalty area. The referee would give a red card to the Ecuadorian player and it would be an Argentina free kick.

Messi would take it and score as he would aim towards the goalkeeper’s side and beat the goalkeeper for the third goal of the match. Lionel Messi leads the Copa America with four goals and four assists.

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52 Comments

  1. Thr is no need to change Papu instead of Nico. Nico is more useful player than Papu. Nico can play everywhr. especially in wings. He is winning freekicks and tackling and winning in interception.His vision for goalscoring opportunities is great. Moreover he is a fast player than Papu and he is taller too.i think Today s goal scoring chance is a bad luck. Brilliant save from Ecudr goalie. Sometimes need to appreciate our opponents also..

    • Nico is a great player, but he hasn’t played to his best this tournament as he hasn’t gotten back in form since his injury.

      Papu is world-class and in form. Remember Lavezzi in 2016 Copa (taking Messi role when Messi was out)? Papu is our Lavezzi today and should play ahead of Nico because he is in form and takes his limited chances to score.

      2 goals in two matches and you start on the bench? Makes no sense.

  2. Good team effort, Everybody played their part. Molina and Romero are sent to be on our right side of the defence, otamendi is also good for this tournament. Pezella should not play again. Acuna is okay for me in this game.
    Paredes- WTF
    Guido did more than what paredes did in this tournament.
    GLC and depaul – good game
    Nico- Sacolani is playing for his work rate and tracking back which papu cant give, a tough decision for him.
    Lautaro did well
    Messi as usual

  3. D Maria as a sub and playing in right is one of the top approach by scaloni. Diffencively Guido is useful than paredes.Nico is also very useful doesn’t matter he not scored today. His ability in wings and interception and his vision for s coring goals and he is taking advantages and reaching on time in pen box & setpeaces .Lo celso is a 50 minute player I think. He can’t play in 90 mints with full potential.Guido and Romero must needed against Colombia.I think Lautarp back in foam last 2 games.Over all releasing pressure from Messi is imp in final matches..

  5. One terrible mistake, I fear, in team selection, now going to happen is, Benching Nico & starting Di Maria.
    Di Maria looks fantastic, he’s giving a lot of confidence booster to the team, but him starting the match again?
    I’m not so sure about it.

    He’s better as a Super sub against Tired and yellow carded defense. Let him be there and shine well, please don’t spoil him form and utility by starting him!

    If Nico is done for now, then let it be for Papu Gomez.
    Colombia will definitely play for the Penalties this time too, and they are 3x better than Ecuador in closing down the space and cutting off our forward threats. So it will not be a waste to play Lo Celso and Papu together. He’s also a master of opening closed space defense.
    Di Maria can very well be a disaster there, Like our old good chicken head days.

    I want Papu, Romero & Guido in for Nico,Pezella & Paredes.

  6. Nico shouldnt even be a consideration for next game. Correa did better in 15 minutes against Bolivia than Nico in last 5 games he played. As bad as Lautaro in recent games , he already got himself a couple of goals.

    Paredes and Nico shouldnt start in remaining games. Tagli in Acuna’s place in last 20-25 minutes is a good idea cause once Acuna’s tired, he’ll get caught easily on counter while doing those overlapping run. Di Maria as late sub is another good thing Scolani did today. He usually ineffective as starter when opponents still has fresh legs, but against tired legs, he’ll blew them away with his pace.

    What a save that was by Emi against that powerful volley. Armani wouldnt even notice if the ball has reach the back of his net.

  7. Lessons learnt:

    Guido must be the DM instead of Paredes. No question about this. Paredes has good passing abilities, but is too vulnerable to be a sole DM.

    We badly need Romero, without him and Guido, our defense is vulnerable. Romero has good positional awareness which others lack. Both are also good at scoring goals in the corners.

    DiMaria is a Super Sub. DiMaria against a tired defense esp if the opponent is chasing would be terrifying. Great asset for the team.

    Nico is still the ideal player for LW for the balance. Papu can’t help the defense like him and also is not as fast as him. Nico should have had a goal, but the Ecuador goalie was very good with the double save.

    Emi Martinez has brought clamness at the goal. He doesn’t have the worrying face of Romero and doesn’t make us worried with the fumbles. He’s so assuring. Has brought huge confidence at the defense for us.

    Scaloni is the best coach we have had in the past decade. He has picked right players and given confidence to younger players. He may not be a mastermind, but does enough homework to make a formidable and confident team who can win a tournament.
    We are still not a force to reckon with yet, but improving steadily. If everything goes well, we can not only win this Copa but next year’s WC too.

  8. Horrible starting xi from Scaloni & co… it seems like he is trying be consistent with his starting xi but someone needs to tell him that he’s got bunch of average and mediocre players wasting valuable 60-70mins!! We were extremely lucky today…. had Ecuador scored only one of their three clear cut chances they would have forced the game into a penalty shootout!! Nico Gonzalez is another headless chicken with shockingly bad finishing!!! Sadly, He is not fit to be a winger for a team like Argentina.

    Even though Messi assisted 2 and scored one…he had an average game by his standards. After a long long time Dimaria is looking in excellent form…..this man pushed the opposition into backfoot…He needs to play atleast 60 to 70mins next game. Guido is far better than overrated Paredes who is a huge liability to our team.. Acuna was also quite average today and if you guys have noticed Acuna’s every other game is poor or average at best.

    Hopefully Romero will be fit next game…. Otamendi and Pezzella are quite slow and are aging!! We can’t have these two playing together…. stronger teams will expose their weakness easily.. Emi martinez is looking confident and his distribution is first-class. Next game Paredes and Nico has to be dropped.

    • What do you mean by extremely lucky?? Mess misses like a higuain.. Nico was twice denied by the goalie of Ecuador.. We could have been leading 2-3 goals in first half itself.. So don’t talk rubbish.. Yeah in second half Ecuador could have equalized.. But this is knock out stage and everybody Will go for a kill.. Otherwise overall Argentina played very very well.. See likes of France Netherland are knocked out by minnows in euro.. Why because it is knockout stage where every team will have their moments.. So Ecuador had their moments.. Thats it.. It’s not like we were extremely lucky.. Watch the higlights.. Apart from three goals we had chances to put 3-4 more goals.. Dimaria is a super sub material.. If he starts we will have that headless chicken mode back.. He is a super sub.. Vamos Argentina

  9. Great win… Messi wow again… Di Maria is a real super Sub…
    For those who say GLC has no defensive contribution… See the stats: More interceptions and tackles in 70mins then the others in 90. Plus most ground duels won!!

    OMG the defense was bad… by that of course I mean the CB’s
    Molina good Acuña also good.

    De Paul was great again and finally scored! No more Paredes as DM please…

    we need ro figure some things out before Semis.

    I think Papu has to start for Nico..

    vamoooos

  10. Very happy for the win. VAMOS!! Here is what I thought personally, however.

    I think Di Maria should stay as second half sub. His energy on the pitch really help against teams with pacey defenders, and he can catch them off guard.

    Lautaro got lucky this time, he really needs to step up his finishing.

    GET GONZALEZ THE FUCK OFF. He is not a bad player but he absolutely should not be starting. He has been poor, he is turning out to be next Maximiliano.

    Paredes and De Paul were pretty mediocre. Lo Celso was doing well, he was running and moving attack up.

    Otta was very risky. I always sweat when he plays, especially during defending corners. He is just such a hot head he cannot be trusted.

  12. my take away from the match:
    >this team can beat anyone in the world. u can say 3-0 is an exaggeration of what happened in the pitch and I agree to it but at the same time we create a lot of chances and on a good day we will take those chances
    > nico is a good player and I know a lot of u will disagree with me but he has the speed, dribbling and work rate which is impressive, but need to work on his shooting. atm I would go with Correa in the next match, he plays for athletico so quite naturally he can provide the defensive cover we need along with his skills upfront
    > our defense is absolutely ridiculous, but with Romero coming in we can improve it massively and for wc22 lisandro should be the man next to cuti so I hope we can improve that area.
    > lo celso is brilliant he takes away a lot of pressure from messi and is very creative same goes for de Paul
    > parades has dropped his form a lot, he is a good player but right now I would go with someone who is in good form and that is Guido
    > di Maria should be used a super sub. he can play as a midfielder, winger and his work rate is top notch.
    > and even though I don’t like otamendi but boy he wins every aerial duals
    Let’s go Argentina we can do it.

    • Defo think we are not being tested. No offense to teams like Ecuador and Bolivia, but being honest they have nothing on their side besides 2-3 decent players at best. As usual, World Cup is where is really counts.

      NOT TRYING TO BE NEGATIVE, just saying that so far the teams we have faced are subjectively weak. These teams have not once made their mark on the world stage. I don’t think we should use this as a good benchmark for WORLD rankings.

      • and I agree with you but if you’ve watching south American football from a long time u would know that there are actually only a handful of easy matches here most of the matches are very difficult to get through because of severe physicality, poor pitch quality and poor refereeing (u saw it today). and I believe we are going in the right direction

        • of course difficulty comes in many forms, but at the end of the day faulty pitch and and refereeing are something both teams have a chance to face. Even if we face Germany tomorrow, we will have the same playing fields.

          That is the control aspect of the match. At the end of the day superior football will 99% win.

          • if we were to play against Germany in this pitch and condition, we are winning by 3 goals without any doubt. Reality is those who play in Europe is really not accustomed to play in such harsh conditions. that’s why smaller s. anerican nations who have majority of players playing in south America, do better.

        • @Arka you have to be joking right 😂

          We will NOT score 3 against Germany, or any competing European team currently as a matter of fact.

          It will be a reflection of our Spain loss. The pitch doesn’t matter. I feel like people are making such a big deal out of it.

          Only in extreme conditions would that be a serious issue. Not only that the pitch today was good. Not uneven and didn’t have patches.

      • @Madara Brazil started with easy games and went to harder ones at the end. We were tested with many difficult games at the beginning and the last two have been easier opponents. Judging by the harder matches we did play we can still beat those levels of teams if we take our chances and don’t end up defending one goal leads

        • we are not brazil. This whole tournament brazil have not even been tested imo.

          Brazil of course can be beaten but against European teams we are yet to see. do not assume anything yet.

          Even out of form germany will likely be tough because of the way they play. ON AVERAGE european teams are more balanced and complete.

  13. Otamendi looks vulnerable because Pezella does almost nothing always i see Otamendi is alone there.
    De Paul is a fucking warrior made for Atletico.
    Guido is must in midfield, paredes is just trouble maker.
    Di Maria super sub he is menace for tired defenders.
    Nico , peice of shit Angel correa or Papu should take his place in next match, Angel correa will even help in defense.
    Messi is messi even in his off day he can score and provide 2 assists he is so decisive in attack.

  14. Lautaro-Messi-DiMaria….what a piece of attacking at the end…
    If Romero and LoCelso fit…we are ready to go..and win the cup…

  15. This game felt a lot better, especially at the end when we tied up the result with a more deserved goal margin. Here are some takes:
    -Guido has shown he should be an undisputed starter
    -I thought Gonzalez would get better with finishing over time but it is just as poor. I am sure Scaloni has other options in his mind now.
    -Lautaro on the other hand was just as bad with finishing as Gonzalez but after the Bolivia game has regained confidence and looks to be back to himself. Good for him.
    -We kept a clean sheet against Ecuador with Otamendi and Pezzella, I think that with Romero and Licha we could even keep one against Brazil.
    -Great game for Emi Martinez
    -I don’t have to say much about Messi other than read these stats: 4 assists 4 goals 5 games, plus 3 key passes per game
    -El Fideo is justifying that he is an incredible world class sub and potential starter if he plays like this
    Now Colombia will be more difficult, physical, and have Cuadrado. We can beat them but we must tread carefully. Playing Guido, Acuna, and Romero against them are absolute musts. From what I saw against Uruguay they are good at closing spaces and preventing players like Suarez and Cavani from getting in the game (as we did), so we will need players that can operate in small spaces and get into good positions (thinking of the fideo-papu connection for the Paraguay goal). Colombia are not scary in attack but as I said we need to play those players to prevent their forwards from overpowering us (and to be better at defending corners which is VITAL against Colombia)

  16. We played well except for Paredes who offers nothing other than winning Oscar nomination.

    Yes, we looked sluggish for large chunk of the game but remember that Ecuador is physical team and always puts some crazy tackles. They should have earn 2 reds for that double tackle on Lo Celso. Its stuff you’ll only see in Captain Tsubasa.

    • That’s the only thing he learned from PSG, it seems.
      Learned from their best in Paris.
      He is still a great player. But he’s not good for us in this line up. Guido can give much more, and make De Paul player better too.

  18. 1)Molina is a good RB so far
    2)Otamendi, Pezzella time is over
    3)Just give messi a good defence he will do rest of the thing
    4)Nico out papu In
    5)Guido is must. May be both guido and paredes

    • Molina’s performance is underrated…his quickness and ability to clear the ball is superb..that’s must needed…and Foyth didn’t have those ..

      • He was able to man mark Almiron against Paraguay. I think in whole almiron only got 1 cross in the entire game. I saw Molina cutting him of almost 6-7 times second half alone.

        He should stay and he should be given spot over tagli.

      • Molina is not world class or anything and won’t do everything spotlessly but he is doing his job right and being solid which given the weakness in that position is crucial and I could not ask for more. I am curious to see how he will improve in the coming years playing in Europe. This is a tough ask but would like to see him get an assist in the remainder of the copa…

  19. Apart from Messi Magic ,we weren’t great ,Till the second gol the game was even

    We were abit lucky we were so shaky

    I said before the Game, and I say it again Guido is a Must he must start, if not we won’t win the Copa.

  20. Fideo was superb as a super sub. I think that is a great weapon to have off the bench. Guido should have started the game, we did not see much from Paredes. Otamendi and Pezzella’s positioning was way off at times in the first half, Valencia could have scored a couple of goals on another day.

    Good subs by Scaloni, we can have hope! Messi is a genius, what else can we say about him.

    De Paul so useful too.

    Great to beat Alfaro after what he said recently…

    • Speaking of Alfaro did he end up saying anything to Scaloni? Wasn’t paying attention after the game ended. You’d swear after Brazil managing a 1-1 draw against them he looked like he witnessed a Bielsa masterclass or prime Barcelona. We beat them 3-0 and nothing I guess??

      • He was telling Tite that Brazil deserve to win the copa, that they play INCREDIBLE, blah blah. It could be him trying to be nice which is a good gesture for coaches but something seems a little off about him drooling over Brazil. Impossible to prove what his intentions were though. I have mixed feelings about it

  21. De paul and lo celso played great game. Won is just won. Di Maria role is great 20 mints at the end. Lautaro scores will give him confident. Just 3 changes required. Papu-Nico, Guido-Parades, Pezzela/Otamandi-romero…

    • Fuck off u shithead!!! Otamendi is by far solid!!! He and romero did pretty well, and they should start in the remaining matches… Romero would replace pazzela, who will replace ota?? Licha?? How many games he played with romero?? How many big game experience he have?? Can he dominate ariel dual like ota?? Come on man!! We know he is good, bt the way ota is playing, he does play like that,we r good for this tournament… If u r a real fan u should wish him the best, so that he doesn’t do any error!

      • Yellow cards are not continued in final? Could you elaborate? What happens if you get one in quarters and in semi’s respectively?

    • Oh & who is his replacement? Pezella?
      Or Martinez? Who will be playing his first match in Final.
      Nice pray.

      Not a big fan of Otamendi, but he was fighting a lonely battle. Pezella was the weak link.
      Otamendi is a must, fck with all negativity.

      • no one is saying otta is weak, most people here are complaining about his temper.

        we absolutely cannot be left with one CB in a match. He is too risky and causes penalties at the worst time.

        Good defender, terrible temper.

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