Rumored Argentina XI in Copa America semi final, Nicolás Tagliafico to start

By
Roy Nemer
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67

Nicolás Tagliafico is set to start for Argentina in the semi final of the Copa America.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni stated on Monday that he would not confirm the team and would wait until Tuesday as there are a few players that are tired and have knocks. Cristian Romero will reportedly miss the semi final as he is not fit and Pezzella would partner Otamendi in the back line.

As we reported on Monday, the rumored eleven for the semi final will resemble that of the 3-0 win in the quarter finals. Per a report by AS, Nicolas Tagliafico will start ahead of Marcos Acuna with Nicolas Tagliafico keeping his spot. Here is the rumored eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Pezzella, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Guido/Paredes, Lo Celso; Messi, Lautaro, González

The only doubt remains in midfield between Guido and Paredes. It was Paredes who started the quarter final win while Guido was brought on as a substitute.

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67 Comments

  1. Cuadrado playing in a very advanced role, based on the formation it looks to be one of two strikers. Wonder what it will look like during the game

  2. Starting 11 confirmed. Guido, Tagliafico, and Gonzalez will start. No Romero. Licha, Di Maria, Acuna on the bench if the starters need replacing

  4. I personally a big fan of Papu and would like him to play.
    I would like Paredes, Romero to play because I believe they are the most talented players in their positions.
    …but if they don’t so be it!
    Players come and go but the Albiceleste shirt is here to stay and its place is on the top of the football world.

  5. Pedri from Spain is just 18 years old and has so far a pass accuracy from 100%
    And they play Italy not some small European Country
    we also need midfielders like Pedri.. That Kis is awesome

    • Remember when Messi was 19 at the 2006 World Cup and the coach didn’t even trust him to give him much playing time in that tournament and Argentina crashed out in the Quarter-Finals?

      • And this is the reason I am happy with Scaloni, The so called Tactical coaches we had, the big names, your favorites, Bielsa-Pekermans are the main reason team like Argentina did not win a WC for 35 years. Sabella, a less tactical coach took us to the final. I have faith in Scaloni. Cos to coach Argentina team, all u have to do is be simple and use common sense. So far Scaloni has given us the most or best XI other coaches never did. Give this team to Gallardo, with 35 years of experience of being an Argentine Fan (since WC 86) I can assure you all that Gallardo will over experiment with this team and kill the chemistry.

      • ualbert, what if the coach had Messi in the starting 11 for the tournament. Argentina would have won it. Messi had played 25 games for Barcelona in the season just ended and scored 8 goals. He would have played even more if not for the injury. The world was amazed to see the young talent. But not Pekerman. That wasn’t the only mistake Pekerman did though.. He also took Riquelme off in the QF. Didn’t even play Messi as a sub.

        What a shame! He and Maradona are the coaches I hate most. They wasted the precious time of Messi era. A huge loss for Argentina.

  6. Italy play many one touch and vertical passes. Even though they sometimes turn the ball over and make sloppy passes, their front and wing players still run relentlessly. That’s good stamina and execution.

  7. Argentina have to won the match. Whatever 11 plays they have to give everything on the pitch and let messi play his beautiful game… Really need DM . Look at the Busquets how many times he break the flow of the game but if there was copa American refree he would have given 2 yellow to him already

  8. Just when we all thought our Full back crisis is past.. Acuna can’t play in a crucial semi final match, because what? Tired? Really a disappointing one.
    Hope Tagliafico can surprise us and give his best performance.

    • I think it’s a tactical change ..Nico will be more defensive and focused on the threat of cuadrado ..Colombia are a direct team ..We can win the midfield battle but we have to be very strong in defending cross balls /long balls and most importantly set pieces ..I am not really happy about otamendi pezzella at CB ..really wish Romero will play..he has the experience against Zapata and Muriel too

  9. Nico over Gomez or ADM is fucking ridiculous at this point.

    What the hell does Gomez have to do prove hes head and shoulders above Nico right now?

    El Mongol and others make great points about Nicos tactical advantage when it comes to headers since Scaloni cannot play out of the back, just hail merries to the front. But is that worth it given the plethora of other duties required from our forwards? Link up play, advancing, creating passes, making runs, scoring, GOMEZ is clearly superior to Nico on all other fronts.

    (i actually love Nico but i dont think RIGHT NOW is the time to gamble or be stubborn, next copa and wc nico will shine)

    • I agree I’d rather see Papu start over Nico atm. He has been brilliant. My gut says that Papu and Di Maria are planned for tactical and formation change in second half. Starting with 4-3-3 and taking off Nico and Lo Celso for Papu and ADM, changing to 4-2-3-1. That way we’ll be a big goal threat in second half against a tired defense

      • Nico is a tactical decision over Quadrado. ADM is not an LW it will be a waste of ADM in LW. He is a weapon for us as a Super Sub on RW. And Papu wont be able to catch up to Quadrado and leave our defence vulnerable. I would have loved to see Papu against Ecuador (or maybe Brazil in the first half) but against Columbia I understand Scaloni’s decision. We have enough fire power to beat Columbia’s defence but our defence has to be on their toes against Columbia. About Romero, if fit, Scaloni would chose him over Pezella, But if Romero is not fit we need Pezella because Zapata is tall. And Pezella plays against Zapata in Serie A. My only concern is Guido, Scaloni should and must play Guido over Paredes.
        No matter who plays I am always behind my team.
        Vamos Albiceleste.

    • I agree with your thoughts. Just a question as I’m trying to see it through all angles, could it be bc papu is a better pk taker ? Not sure about nico and papu ability to take pK, just think out loud due to experience of the players respectively

      • From what I can see, Papu has only ever shot 10 penalties in his career and scored 6 of them.
        Nico Gonzalez has shot 9 penalties and scored 8

      • You should look at videos of Nico’s penalties, he has a great technique. However I have doubts about his finishing overall at the moment and feel nervous about him taking a penalty despite a good record

  10. Really unfortunate that Romero is still not 100% when we need him the most. He knows Muriel’s and Zapata’s game better than anyone. If we reach finals he will be crucial. Hope he recovers asap.

    Otamendi Pezzella is the CB pair we used in Copa 2 years ago and it was and still is a pretty shakey defense. They do however have experience and leadership skills on their side. Using a destroyer DM like Guido over a regista DM like Paredes is then a logical choice, while deploying a more defensive fullback like Tagliafico on the left side, where most of the Colombian attacks will come from, should further help defensively.
    Like this we can expect our attacks to be more central, and overcrowding a 4-4-2 centrally is generally what you want to do

    I have faith in our players and coaching squad to win this game. We must. Then we kill the bananas in the final to end this silverware drought. Vamossss!

  11. Does anyone know what exactly is going on with Romero? All reports are that it is a “knock”, but how is a knock keeping him out for 2 weeks??

    I hope this is Scaloni crossing his fingers and hoping Arg goes to the final and we have a fully fit and rested Romero to deal with Brazil

    • He is out because Atalanta says so. He is about to be sold for a hefty sum of money and Atalanta doesn’t want a copa to hurt their cash cow

    • Because the so called knock is on the knee. Minimum recovery period for knee is 2 weeks. Without proper recovery, it would lead to an even serious injury.

      chejose, you’re a traitor. I feel sorry you’re here as a fan of Albiceleste.

  12. I really hope this isn’t true. The game is not won before it starts. We need to field the strongest team because if we play paredes taglia and pez there is a real higher possibility of us being out. Also confused on the Romero fitness saga. If we start a team like this than the substitutes in the second half will only be emergency disaster subs (bringing on guido and acuna) rather than subs to kill off the game.

    • Right, I am usually willing to give players the benefit of the doubt and happy to see them play more to regain form but last game was the last straw. If Gonzalez starts Di Maria should be a much earlier sub than usual

      • He is one of the best in the team when it comes to headers. With the Colombians heights we need him

  15. All the best guys for tonites game … Yes all of us have our own preferences for starting XI n so does Scaloni.
    Hence let’s just hope his ‘however absurd’ strategy, tactics along with his selection of players work against Columbia coz in the end its the victory which counts bringing us one step closer to winning it all the way.

    • How come acuna is so tired? He is playing same as other full backs in competition. Hope its not any injury. Even romero’s case is so unfortunate. He had so minimal injuries in last 3 seasons for an active CB & now missing argentina ‘s most important games since 2019. Anyway its a stage to think of winning with whoever is available & 100% fit

      • I am scratching my head at that as well. He has been interchanged a decent amount with Tagliafico and has played 60% of minutes in copa

  16. 2 Players that will miss the final if they get a yellow card against Colombia: Nicolas Otamendi and Nico Gonzales.

    Otamendi is very important as Romero is still recovering, he can’t manage to get a yellow. Otherwise we will be very thin in the back in the final.

  17. It’s a 50/50 game. So I agree with playing conservatively and starting Guido and Tagliafico. We can send in Di Maria and Papu/Acuna in second half to attack a tired defense. Scaloni has to make timing decision as there won’t be extra time.

  18. Latest news : Guido will start ahead of Paredes. This is as per Gaston Edul of TyC.

    So team is more or less confirmed.

    Emi; Molina, Pezzella, Otamendi, Tagliafico; RDP, Guido, Lo Celso; Gonzalez, Lautaro, Messi.

    Tagliafico is considered to contain Cuadrado and he is fresher than Acuna. Guido wins place due to good perfor

    • Yes I can confirm this. So we go defensive minded by playing Tagliafico and Guido instead of Acuna and Paredes. I just hope it won’t be 0-0 in the first half.

      • Actually its attacking to play guido rather than paredes as locelso and depaul attack without much worries. Acuna is tired so much needed rest. We may not start nico Gonzalez in final

  19. Tagliafico is very inconsistent player,Acuna were best LB in La Liga last season. Acuna’s first touch is so impressive he is too good to provide width in LW. He can stretch a defence easily. Chemistry is needed best player needs to start every single match.

  20. Guido Rodriguez and Papu Gomez brings creativity to the pitch. That is the best weapon for any team.Scaloni is too hesitant to attack same thing I saw in France team in Euro despite having best attack they were hesistant to go forward and were satisfied with draw that approach costed them in Knock out game.
    Acuna Papu Gomez and Guido Rodriguez must start please Scaloni make it happen.With early goals Argentina can make pressure on Colombia and Guido Rodriguez is perfect for shielding our defence.

  21. It is still 50-50 between Acuna and Tagliafico.

    If Acuna starts: Cuadrado would not attack us like crazy from the right because Acuna can always overlap. Our attack from the left would be lively for sure as there are Acuna, Lo Celso, and Nico there.

    If Tagliafico starts: Cuadrado would not care about defending at all as he will attack us from the right knowing that Tagli is NOT a threat going forward. Nico Gonzales would be less effective because only Lo Celso from the left would help him, no assist from the left back Tagli. And.. our attack from the left would be close to non existent.

    If you notice anytime Tagli starts, we rarely attack from the left. I hope Acuna starts.

    • Acuna is reportedly very tired so mayb that’s why tagliafico starting. We should start papu or dimaria thn Cuadrado will not attack like crazy. Otherwise we need to control the midfield and have the lion share of possession if Columbia doesn’t get the ball obviously Cuadrado threat will be nullified

      • How come acuna is so tired? He is playing same as other full backs in competition. Hope its not any injury. Even romero’s case is so unfortunate. He had so minimal injuries in last 3 seasons for an active CB & now missing argentina ‘s most important games since 2019. Anyway its a stage to think of winning with whoever is available & 100% fit

  22. Acuna and taglafico are both good, although acuna performed better overall in the last month, I don’t mind tagla in. In terms of Nico or di maria or papu… If it were me I would start either di maria or papu, but Im not as concerned with that area as we have Messi and Martinez up front.
    My concern is that when u have tagla on the back left and paredes in the middle and they push forward for attack, cuadrado will be occupying that area of taglafico, and they have to be disciplined to track back and disallow him to operate. Columbia’s game plan is cuadrado to Zapata and set piece chances. Maybe it would be better to start Guido over Paredes and allow him to set the pace of that back line so that Tagla is not left on the left side looking left. Tagla has to understand that alot is riding on his feet in that back left area… I hope he is ready.

    • Hey SorinXcresp0, I saw your comment concerning FOX Sports…………………they just have a way of pushing my buttons with their idiotic comments and the blind sucking up to Brazil especially Alexi Lalas that goes back more than 20 years, first with ESPN and FOX for the past 7-8 years now.
      I had Beninsports but cancelled my online subscription since Comcast took that channel off their lineup and for the fact that La Liga will now be shown on ESPN that I already have.
      As far as Spanish channels go, I have one that shows the COPA games but I didn’t want to jinx the team by switching channels……..yeah, I’m crazy like that.

      • 😂 on the jinx my team. I have crazy things like that too. For instance, I wore my Argentina jersey from 94 when we tied with Chile so I put that back in the closet and started wearing my away jersey from 2020 when the Copa started. That is the only jersey I will wear out of my 5 wearable Argentina jerseys until the tournament is over . If Argentina loses I will blame it on my away jersey and my general bad luck I have in this life 😂
        The only guy on fox panel that knows anything maybe Lalas, but he is a cherry picker too. I feel embarrassed when listening to them commentate live on a match. I don’t know why they can’t find anyone good. Plus they have this Latino duo from Bolivia and Venezuela on some matches. One of them tries too hard to be exciting and funny and the other one states the obvious in elementary level English. It’s very awkward and all I can do is face palm.

        • I also have problems with jinxing the team. I have to listen to the entire national anthem before the game and during half time. When I didn’t we drew against Colombia and Chile.. but only for this copa

  23. I do not understand selection of Nico Gonzalez, Papu or Angel Correa would have been much better. I do not know why forward players needs to defend when they can give so much in forward line. Defenders are for defence forward should attack.Papu Messi chemistry is great he should use it.
    Guido Rodriguez must start he does let defence get exposed. Chemistry between player is needed for that they needs to play some games continuously.Chemistry does not build in training ground.

    • Actually national team coach should be a midfielder. A defender will always be defensive no matter what. Bt in a way it may help us because our main problem is our defence no doubt about that. As we don’t have world class defenders we have to defend as a team thats why even forward needs to track back and help in defence

    • In modern football, defenders have to be the first line of attack and the attackers have to be the first line of defense. At times, forwards will have to track back and defenders will have to move forward with the ball.

  24. Hopefully won 1-0 or 2-0. Won’t commenting on playing 11 or subs. Guido or parades .. those discussion not matter as long as your coach play the players whom he likes… So no point debating who plays who not…

  25. I’m really happy that we still don’t know our starting XI. Colombia have that fixed formation and we can almost predict their tactics too. So according to me , we’re already one step ahead. I’m not saying that knowing your enemy assures victory. But a war against an enemy with info on his arsenal without revealing what is in ours is always an advantage.Right?
    Colombia coach definitely will have to prepare his team for two scenarios; one with wing play (Di Maria) and other being through center (Lo Celso). Think from a Colombia fan perspective. He’ll be whining about the lack of a plan B, the easy predictability of his team, confusion about who we’re going to start and how we’re going to play.
    Lucky me, I’m in this banks of river…

    • Spain with similar 11 won 2008 euro 2010 wc and 2012 euro. So this is bogus theory. All top teams have a settled 11.and we still not able to find right players a settled 11 have chemistry which we still lacks for the obvious reasons. Our defence is still shaky. We still rotating our lb we still doubtful about our dm we still doubtful about left wing still fielding old pazella otamendi

      • Spain around 2010, Barcelona of 2009-12, Germany 2014.. these are all world beaters, greatest teams in History.
        We are unfortunately no where near that mark, in 2006 we had something closest to that point.

        But that doesn’t mean, Only such teams can win tournaments. God, we almost won it in 2014, by playing as underdogs.

        For a team we had now, unpredictability of the lineup, is also a weapon to use. Scaloni is rightly using it. I’m not a fan of Scaloni. But he is doing fine there.

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