Emiliano Martinez penalty hero as Argentina reach Copa America final

By
Roy Nemer
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123

Emiliano Martinez saved three penalty kicks as Argentina got the 2-1 win in a penalty shootout to reach the final of the Copa America.

Argentina took the early lead as Gio Lo Celso played a ball in to Lionel Messi and he would pass it to Lautaro Martinez as Lautaro would score to give Argentina the 1-0 lead. Nicolas Gonzalez came close to scoring the second as Messi crossed the ball into the penalty area but his header was saved by Ospina.

The second half saw Colombia grow into the match and would make it count. A quick free kick taken by Colombia as Luis Diaz would beat Pezzella for pace and score to draw Colombia level.

Angel Di Maria was brought in for Argentina and nearly had an assist. Di Maria dribble around Ospina who came out of his penalty area as he passed it to Lautaro but Lautaro’s open goal effort was blocked on the line.

It would go to penalty kicks and Emiliano Martinez would turn into the hero. Juan Cuadrado would go first for Colombia as Martinez would guess the right way but was unable to save it.

Lionel Messi was the first one up for Argentina and he would convert his into the top corner of the net.

It was now time for the Emiliano Martinez show. Davinson Sanchez would take the second kick for Colombia but Martinez with a save. Up stepped Rodrigo De Paul but his penalty went over the bar.

Up next for Colombia was Yerry Mina and Martinez would save his. Leandro Paredes with a well taken penalty and he would score for Argentina. Miguel Borja and Lautaro Martinez woulds core theirs which left Edwin Cardona.

Last kick and a third save for Emiliano Martinez as Argentina win and are in the final!

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123 Comments

  1. Emi has been a relevation. One of the best we have ever had. Yes, I say this coz I have followed him closely and the pathetic display of our GKs in the past two decades.

    Romero is gomna bring such a breath of fresh air, we need him badly in the final. If he plays, it would be a great man management by Scaloni.

  3. Di-maria starting next match is a must … but like everyone here Scaloni wants to use him as a super-sub in 70min… last 20-30 mins will get you nothing when rest of the teammates are 80% energy drained.. he created chances after chances but the rest of the players their body language was already looked like they had given up… that is why I like Papu.. unlike others he seems to be mentally solid.. we have lot a lot of finals and that is not only because of bad-luck but also mental strength.. our players aren’t mentally strong and Scaloni who still needs to learn a lot as a coach hasn’t been able to improve their mental strength..

    Another player Scaloni and his two assistants who also seems be clueless have failed to utilize is Angel Correa.. Simione has made him a beast.. he can run, defend, attack and score but Scaloni and his assistants want to go with Nico.. well compared to Ecuador match , Nico had a better game but oppositions they will not show respect to average players like him.. Also Molina had a very bad game.. he wasn’t able to handle the attack from the right side that is why Scaloni subbed him but his sub was even worse. However, The weakest link in our team is Pezzella.. not only he had a bad game his blunder almost got Messi injured. If Romero can replace Pezella and Scaloni can field proper players who will make sure that our midfield will not get overrun.. then we definitely have a chance ..

    • I hope Pezzella poor marking in Colombia goal kinda gives Scaloni a wake up call that he has to play Romero no matter what! Pezzella did one smart defensing that caused him a yellow though. That was a good foul that prevented Colombia from scoring in the 92nd minute. Actually had it been a red card for Pezzella, it would be fine.

    • PAPU NEEDS TO START not only does he have way more touch and skill than dominguez but he can alleviate pressure when he comes down below the half, and create space so we can attack. not to mention he has 3 points in 3 games. its such an obvious play i dont understand

  4. I was watching the Italy/Spain game and was somewhat excited when it went to PKs, thinking to myself how relaxing it is to watch a PK shootout when its not your team and then it hit me!
    How would I like it if ARG’s game went into PKs tonight and then it wasn’t so exciting anymore.

    Colombia went in with everything they had, their tactics were borderline dirty, knocking Messi down every chance they got, they had full speed and attack and ARG let them back into the game which NEEDS to change for the next game.

    Moving to the PKs and I was thinking, ‘what if Martinez saves 2 pks like Romero did in 2014’ and I was trying to channel him, saying, “Lets GO Romero stop it” I was a bit annoyed when he smiled after being scored on and thinking why the fuck is he smiling…and the rest
    was history.
    I was cracking up during the Uruguay/Colombia pk shootout when Mina took his PK and the little dance afterword and again with the pk after that……….and Messi even shouted after he missed it, “Dance now” lol.

    OK, now down to business, its ONE GAME, ONE PRIZE, ONE NIGHT, ONE OPPONENT, and ONE DREAM…………………..just get it done.

    • There’s one thing in this Copa that almost paralel with Euro…. Italy reached final after conceiding second half equalize but still won the shootout. Argentina just did the same. Argentina will face Brazil at Maracana while Italy could possibly face England at Wembley. Although England off course, has yet to make it.

  5. The problem with us Argentina fans is that we motherfuckers pee in our pants when we face Good teams. I dare all these motherfuckers that Messi and Argentina are going to take the crown in maracana..
    You will see neymar crying in maracana.
    Though Neymar has 1 more copa in 2024 he will be 32.
    I guess messi will announce retirement after victory,But he wants to go to qatar ,so i think he will have to make a tough decision.
    We will Win.

    • we dontg pee our pants. the problem is the corruption that happend for a very long time where we were putting in shit players just to try to sell them and make money, and also putting in choke artists like higuain and palacios, who have proven year after year to be choke artists. its not peeing in our pants, its curruption from the top of putting in shit players to try to sell them

  6. Meanwhile, Lautaro surpassed Tevez’s all time goals for Argentina.
    Tevez 13 goals from 76 matches.
    Lautaro 14 goals from 28 matches.

    I believe Lautaro will finish in top 3 before he retires.

    • and half of Lautaro’s goal tally was scored in competitive game. Sometimes we forget he’s only 23.

      The comparison with Tevez is abit misleading though. Most Tevez caps was during Maradona and Batista’s days where the team was absolutely terrible. Remember before Sabella came in, Messi only has 16 goals in 65 games. When Sabella took over, the front four were finally able to scores so many goals, and that continue under Tata.

      Tevez also played much deeper just like Messi. Lautaro was deployed as a #9. It would be like comparing Batistuta or Crespo scoring ratio to Messi.

  7. I am happy with the victory, Scaloni almost messed up by playing too many defensive minded players altogether against a good team that needed to score 1 goal. I mean Montiel, Tagliafico, double DM, and a tired De Paul meant we were not a threat at all against them in the 45th of minute until the 68th minutes.

    Di Maria changed the game and Emi rescued us.
    Molina did not have a good game but still better than Montiel. I hope Scaloni won’t be tempted to start Montiel in the final. Tagli is Tagli, as usual below average game. He could have caused us a PK in the second half with his too aggressive marking.

    Just 24 hours ago Molina and Acuna were our definite starters and then we were in a situation where we needed to field our strongest team to maintain the lead, Scaloni was back to his Montiel and Tagliafico combo whose quality are clearly worse. That was a bad coaching.

    Di Maria needs to start. The guy is playing with a chip on his shoulder. He brought a lot of energy and fresh air. He usually shines in the decisive match. Nico Gonzales is fine, he helped a lot defensively knowing that our attack from the left was close to nothing due to Tagliafico non existent help.

    Some of you underestimated the PK shootout possibility. I already said it a while ago, it was better for Paredes and Montiel and even Nico Gonzales to be among subs because those 3 are PK masters and at the same time worse quality wise than the players that rotate with them (Guido, Molina, and Di Maria). But some of you did not realize what I was saying. Scaloni did it with Paredes (using him as a sub) and it turned out to be good as he scored his PK. If there had been the fifth PK taker today, I am sure it would have been Montiel’s turn.

    As much as Di Maria excelled as a super sub role, you guys can’t think that he is ONLY good as super sub. The guy played in a lot of final of important matches in his career: CL final a couple of times, Olympic, Copa America, and a bunch of Copa Del Rey finals. At least in 2 finals, Di Maria was the MOM in 2 finals which were Olympic and the CL with Real Madrid. He has got what it takes to play in the final as a starter. For me it should be the opposite. Di Maria plays as a starter as a right wing (De Paul on the left) and Nico comes as a sub.

    I just hope Scaloni learns from his coaching mistake. He can’t play too safe especially if we lead 1-0 in the final. Brazil would put 7-8 men to attack us when they know there is no threat. He can’t play too many players who would not be a threat going forward altogether.

  8. Argentina does not need much change just 1or 2 change Argentina will beat Brazil.
    N.Gonzalez should not start. Mollina Acuna should be full backs. Guido as DM. C. Romero at Center Back position. Rest of the team should be same.

  9. For crying bitches xG Argentina 2,5 Columbia 0,8 defense was not that bad neither, Columbia is a neirly top team, finishing was bad again. (Columbia deserved shit).Post factum the equaliser was the best scenario before the final, at least Scaloni will realise that ultra passive, defensive approach after the lead is suicide.

  10. In these knockout stages,every team gives their best.. Even in euros heavyweight France was beaten by Switzerland in penalty and Switzerland loss to Spain in penalty.. So it’s all about the performance in given 90 or 120 minutes that matters.. When lautaro missed I thought we are done but this was all the fate thats was going to be written about emi Martinez.. What a beast emi is.. Lets hope whoever plays in the final plays with the winning mentality.. We lost four five finals in last two decades that all goes down to the lack of strong mentality in the final.. Hope that changes against Brazil and it will be the end of curse for us.. Vamos Argentina

    • Yes, but remember in 1995, they beat Argentina with a hand goal . In 2004, we actually scores but they got late equalizer. I do agree they’re just stronger mentally from that point. Before that, they just happen to beat us narrowly.

  11. I think we need to change formation for the final. We need to play 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 formation with cb Romero otamendi lisandro. We have no other choice as Molina and montiel is shit defensively and cant control Neymar. We r most probably loose bt we have to try hard. Even greece in 2004 beat golden generation of Portugal in euro final then why can’t we beat Brazil. Scaloni will be tested. His tactics and formation and the team selection will decide we can win or not. We have 5-10% chance of winning thats good pressure will be less. Nobody apart from fanatics are expecting us to win against a much balanced and stronger Brazilian side in their soil.

  12. Argentina has to beat Brazil before penalty. No team has won back to back penalties to win trophy. Also if we score first we panic and if we concede panic. I don’t see this team winning vs Brazil

  13. use messi or correa as false 9 .. or winger if messi in wings correa in false 9… if messi in false 9 correa as winger…
    messi,dimaria,correa,locelso this are the big match player… they should be used in attack for the right and middle final third of attack…

    after seeing the semifinal.. scaloni tactics preparation plans seems to be worrying

  14. 🗣️ Lionel Messi: “Penalties depend on luck, but we knew Emiliano would save at least two. He deserves it because he’s a monster keeper.”

    • YES, we all saw that…….I honestly think he was confused to the 3 saves and was waiting for confirmation from VAR, even Martinez was asking for that too before getting mobbed.

        • WRONG! It’s not twelve it is 17 men. Varsil president will show up and do his things like last Copa. Good that our boys will know this time no stopping on foul unless you hear clear whistle from Ref

  16. Nico Gonzalez does not needs to be starter.Deploy anyone on that Left Wing but not Nico Gonzalez. Papu has more goals than him despite playing less matches no reason to drop Papu Gomez. Team vs Brazil should be 4 3 3
    Emi Martinez
    Mollina. C.Romero. Otamendi. Acuna
    De Paul. G. Rodriguez. Lo celso
    Messi. Lautaro. Papu Gomez
    Subs
    Di maria
    N. Gonzallez
    Paredes

    • you have strange mind.. you had very bad view on lautaro.. and suddenly you put lautaro in your starting eleven.. why is that? you are really funny

      • He deserved that as we have no choice. Even today he missed open net. But he looks little better than group stage matches.Players sometime performs other time does not so they should be used cautiously.

  17. It is always nice to win. Lion heart from Emi. But I am not really fan of our tactics atall. With all humility I would say this is terrible terrible tactics. Score first then let have opposition all the possession with one holding midfielder and two attack minded midfielder. Also Pazzella and Otamendi in CB when new faces in Fullback position. It’s like we forgot to play with ball. From Left side Tagliafico only passes to Nico even he is marked. There is no switching play or in midfield no one taking chances in one o one. We need to find another 2 CB with Romero. He wouldn’t never let the goal happen if he was instead of Pazzella.

  18. give the team a lot of salmon,trout fish and a lot of fruit juices… they will need stamina for final..

    brazil is a technical team .. now the real exam for scaloni head..

  19. nico gon is not linking good offensively but he is doing on things good he is quickly coming back for the defence.. this may be creating problem for his offence to unleash bcs he had to run a lot and finally he just can’t take the ball in offensive danger… and loosing stamina quickly…

    lautaro is energetic player .. nico is also but his stamina only sustain 45 to 50 minutes …

    scaloni should use lautaro in second hub around 60 to 70 minutes..
    and nico gon should be used when team needs to defence as well as some counter attacking run ..

    my team is for final

    ————-messi———-
    gomes—locelso—correa/dimaria
    ——guido—-R.d.p——-
    acuna–otam–romero–molina

    sub: if dimaria play in first half then correa as sub in 60 to 70 minute but i think dimaria should bring in second half as early as can

    nico gon/lautaro for gomes around 50 to 55 minutes…

    paredes for guido in 80 to 90 minutes…

    only tensed things is the right back position…
    wing backs needs to be in good stamina and some skills in defending

    • also i would like …. messi, correa, dimaria combiantion..
      as like as… messi,locelso,dimaria combo..

      if dimaria used for full 90 minutes.. then correa should be sub with locelso..

      messi,locelso,correa,dimaria this 4 should be combine correa as sub or dimaria as sub…

      needs a quality player in that right back..
      did lmq has pace..
      i feel missing of ocampos or saravia from squad… who could help in right back

  20. LMQ should play against Brazil in RB position. Molina/Montiel will be destroyed by Neymar at LW.
    Btw who was out about to take our last penalty kick.

  23. Scaloni must rethink his one goal lead and sitting and defending entire 90 minutes. It will not work against bigger teams and more risky

  24. Molina should start, otherwise, we should change formation scaloni got no other chance. 3-4-3
    Martinez
    —-> Romero – Otamendi – Lisandro
    A.Correa Depaul Guido Acuna
    —–> Messi – Martinez – Nico/Papu
    Dimaria for angel correa.
    Paredes for Acuna
    Celso should come on to replace Nico/Papu
    All above 3 subs should happen same time.
    formation would be changed to 3-4-1-2
    Martinez
    —-> Romero – Otamendi – Lisandro
    Depaul Guido Paredes Celso
    —–> Messi
    Dimaria Maritnez

    Aguero/papu may come in for martinez.

  25. Such a huge relief. Thank you Emi. But this game took Argentina Colombia rivalry to next level. Hereafter Colombia will take and treat us as more rival than Brazil. Always felt the toughest opponent in South America is Colombia. Then only Brazil even though Brazil is a powerhouse than Colombia. Anyhow happy with a huge win. But still Scaloni is not at all convincing. Di Maria is in very good form and he is not given enough time. He must come by 50′ or even in the start of the second half. Lo Celso is one half player. Better he play the first half and Maria start in the second half. We are really wasting Maria’s fitness. Still his fitness level is immense. Lautro and Nico are hard workers in spite of their misses n finishing. Hope they shape up their finishing more. Paredes seems to be a super sub. Better go with Guido. Tagliafico did well. Hope Molina comes refresh for the final. He worked a lot in this tournament. Maybe tired. Just one game failure should not judge him. Messi..relax..play your game normally..naturally..enjoy the occasion..already you are the player of the tournament..play with smile and end with smile..vamos..

  26. Lautaro one easy chance missed Nico one easy header missed DePaul missed finally Messi missed one half chance plus 2 freekicks

  27. brazil is technical team.. neymar and danilo intiate there pace in the wings…. with romero , ota , guido center would be decent also left won’t bad with acuna only thinks that concern is the right side where neymar play…

    wing backs gonna need a lot of stamina…
    scaloni did right to sub molina early if he thinks about the final.. also molina effectiveness against neymar it is not known questionable.. and argentina has no quality back up in the both wing backs.. tagliafico is little ahead than montiel.. nothing else..

    argentina play vs colombia seems there was no plan for that game.. and also the bad referring

    i hope argentina practice shootout both inside and outside box more and more ….
    lautaro quality in finishing really disturbing ..

  28. Gabriel Jesus is suspended for final. I do not rate him but he has always performed and scored against us. Last Copa, he scored one goal and assisted the second. In WCQ 2018, he scored too.

    With him suspended, Tite tried Neymar, Firmino and Everton aginst Peru. Firmino is out of form. I do not know much about Everton Ribeiro.

  29. GREAT WIN TODAY.. CONGRATS TEAM.
    Already thinking abput the final. Surely our defence will find it hard. The experts in this group pls suggest, what do you think, should we go 4-4-2 in the final?

    Defence- Acuna, Romero, Ota, Molina
    Mid- De paul, Guido, Lo celso, Di maria OR
    Paredes, Guido, Lo celso, Depaul
    Forward- Lautaro, Messi
    GK – YOU KNOW WHO

  30. can someone help me understand a couple of my questions…. 1) why does papu gomez never get to start? all he does is score or give assist and creates opportunity and we always sub him out for gonzales who has no touch. 2) why does FOYT never get a chance to get comfortable as our RB ? he has the speed to hang with anyone in the world and can also take the ball up as well and from what i’ve seen hes way better than molina and montiel….. i DONT understand for the life of me someone please convince me of why these guys dont get to play

    • @Gustavo I will try from my game experience and knowledge. We were a defensively terrible squad after 2010 (Although Sabella did some magic with 2014 WC squad) We did not own a World class GK before this tournament (Although Romero did some great things for us he was not fully convincing atleast for me) Our centre backs were not so good to win trophies by defending score convincingly. The only way out of this is to make collective effort to defend starting from the line of attack. But in all due respect to Messi we cannot ask him to defend box to box considering his age and efficiency. That means we have 10 players do the off ball works. This is how all tactically strong structured teams defend now a days. Look at Simeone’s Atleti for example. Papu and Messi together means we are one more man down to work. Look at Nico and Lautaro… just rewind the matches and see they were seen everywhere in our half doing dirty works. Papu cant do that. I think this was the main reason that we did not conc

      • (continuation) I think this was the main reason that we did not concede earlier in recent games.
        Regarding Foyth, I have no explanation for not selecting him but Montiel. Foyth and Molina should be included and used in opposite tactics and circumstances accordingly.

      • i understand that but its just a weird mindset to me. I’de rather have papu who will make the other team get on their heels which means we will prolly score 1 or 2 goals, then once we are up by 1 or 2 in the second half u can add nico to chase everyone like a dog because the logic of ok he will do all the dirty plays …. thats great but hes makin it easier for the other team to defend him cuz the play always dies when the ball touches his feet. so instead of goin for ultimate offensive power, u go for no power, and a guy that will chase everyone? why not put in the guy who will make the other team chase you instead. (i get what ur saying i guess i just still think its worth the risk with papu. yeah Foyth is our best option and our fastest RB and hes not even on the roster lol.sad to see we r gonna miss him against brazil not that it will matter causse they r gonna cheat again anyway but

  32. People stop complaining bad about our RB hope they become better and I hope romero play for US God with this argentina team we will this copa

    • our true RB is FOYT and for some reason we never play him. he has the speed to hang with anyone in the world and he can go up and nutmeg brazilians like he did years ago. i truly dont understand why they never let him settle as the RB unless we are still trying to sell players who arent going to sell cuz they r trash

  33. Don’t blame scaloni cuz Colombia never come to play football.To me it wasn’t football game rather was rugby
    I believe Brazil more suited Argentina to play than Colombia F..k them, I’m so happy for the team, one more step than the drought is over. Biggest mistake scaloni made was leaving foyth out

    • Ospina is the only good guy from that team. Always smiling even when things dont go his way.

      Colombia often troubled us , in recent qualifier , previous Copa, 2015 Copa. They rely on physical strength not skills or strategy.

    • Its very rare to play inverted full backs. But once in a while you see it, for example when gareth southgate plays trippier as right back. In any case, there is probably less than 0% chance of scaloni doing such a huge shift before a final. He will probably instead have someone man mark neymar throughout to provide help on the outside.

  35. Its funny so many thinks Varzil is world beater even though their last 3 games were a draw and a narrow 1-0 wins. If Argentina win, people here keeps saying how Lautaro missing his chances, etc etc.

    Neymar only scored twice so far, nobody make a big deal out of it? Lautaro actually has scored more.

  36. I thank God that I get to see this side of Emiliano Martinez. One side of me is so happy that it was a Penalty Shootout and we won. Now I ll go to the Final with more confidence that we got the shootout covered in case its another shootout.
    One message to all the cules. Do not fear Brazil. Columbia impressed me more than Brazil in the last couple of matches.
    If we win we will win with any Starting XI. If we lose even the best starting XI cannot stop defeat. I ve seen that before. At this point its no use complaining cos no one will listen to you.
    Do yourself a favour, enjoy every bit of your life. Moments like this wont come again. Dont be stressed. Keep this thread positive. If we lose we will rise again. But we will win this time. I never felt this optimism before.
    Vamos Albiceleste.

    • No player selection is key to victory for Argentina or any team. If we had Armani in goal post today,we would have been knocked out.
      Papu Gomez or Angel Correa are needed in this team. C. Romero must play final match either fit or unnfit he said he could have played against Ecuador so proper rest has given to him.

  37. Hola Mundo
    Find it hard to understand those who are still swearing on Scaloni. He may not be the bestest NT coaches out there, but he is slowly building a team, give him some credit. Whatever lack of talent we have, like in RB, LB etc, he has built a team spirit which is so important.

    Emi brought back memories of Goicoechea in 90WC, who dragged us through the many penalty kicks. Emi looks even more confident than Goicoechea and it was mindblowing to see how he looked unfazed whilst Borja danced in front of him after scoring. Wish we had him in 2018 WC

    Hopefully Acuna is rested for final and Molina will start. Montiel was an even bigger disaster in the 2nd half and confisering how Molina was ok in the previous matches n we dont have other options, we need to stick with Molina. How I wish Romero will come back for the final. Otamandi, Romero and Emi will give us a lot of confidence for the finals.

    That through ball from Lo Celso was pure genius of a pre assist. A pity that he seem to get tired by second half.
    Nico has incredible pace and works very hard in the left wing too. he seems a bit unlucky with his finishing. He is not world class but works even harder than Lautaro and is good with his head during crosses.
    Lautaro looked like he found his scoring feet, but it was a terrible miss. he only had a defender and had enough time on the ball to place his shot with power, but shot just straight. Thats unpardonable for a no.9. Thankfully he took his pk very well.

    I really hope Scaloni wont start De Maria in the finals, but bring him in between 50 -60 minutes not later. And lets all hope DeMaria shows more intent in going on rather than falling down trying for free kicks, please

    I have no idea how well Brazil is playing and can only hope we bring our A game for the finals and we dont decide to sit back after scoring a goal (this is one thing I dont get with Scaloni).

    Our midfielders need to put in their best to ensure Messi dont have to come betn the circle and our pbox to move the ball forward.

    Vamos Argentina!

  39. Molina was disaster in first half. So was Montiel in second half. RB position is a nightmare for us now. With this kind of mediocre RBs, Dont know how can we stop a player like Neymer in the final.
    Scaloni must do something.. Bring Lisandro who can play in various position at back/DM.
    Bring Dmaria in 60 minutes, only then he can be a threat to opposition, Also Lautaro ,though scored one goal, disappointed us.

    • our true RB is FOYT and for some reason we never play him. he has the speed to hang with anyone in the world and he can go up and nutmeg brazilians like he did years ago. i truly dont understand why they never let him settle as the RB unless we are still trying to sell players who arent going to sell cuz they r trash

      • Yaa after final scaloni will back fyoth after yesterdays match everybody knows both montial and molina not good for big mommments molina can at least attack though

  41. Congratulations everyone. We did it but in my opinion it is wrong to take the victory and forget about the incompetence of scaloni. His turtle tactic after leading by 1 goal didn’t work today and MAYBE won’t be enough against Brazil.

  42. Right wing is the exact position suited for Dmaria. He is terrific in Right like Messi. Sub of Molina is the reason for Col goal. He needs to stay full 90.Montiel can’t convince yet he is suited to that position. Scaloni needs some other to fix RB position..

    • Dod u watch the match? Molina was equally terrible in the first half.. lost ball many times and couldnt stop any attack..

      • Montiel is more terrible than Molina. RB is a big problem now. Send Montiel and pezzella to their preferred tourist spot Tonight.

      • Exactly. Foyth is better for the position but error prone. We are in serious trouble regarding the right most side of our defense. Happy to see a Malayali @ Malabari Albiceleste. Where at malabar?

    • FOYT!!!! for the love of god i dont understand how no one sees foyt is the answer. he has the speed to hang with anyone in the world and can also go up if need be. He’s the best RB I’ve seen argentina have since Zanetti and thats not saying much cuz its been trash since but hes far better than molina an dmontiel put together

  43. I am trying to find positives.
    Although the venue is Maracana, there will not be huge brazil supporters due to covid, right?

    I am happy today, but I am holding back and I will be ecstatic only if we win the trophy.
    Surely the losing streak in the finals has to end now.

  44. Emi and Messi were great today and so was Di Maria. Overall the performance was lousy. We played 15 minutes and then completely lost the initiative. Colombia had more possession and played better than us. Only after the equalizer we started playing again. This strategy will not result in a win against Brazil. We need to play the full 90 minutes. Romero is a MUST. With Pezzella we have no chance. Di Maria outshines everyone he replaces. He must start in the final just like Guido. Fingers crossed that Ayala, Aimar and Samuel correct Scaloni’s mistakes.

  47. Simply brilliant display by Emiliano Martinez to pull out the lackadaisical Argentine defence of shame. Was there anyone defending the right today? Who was it? When opponents take a free-kick, isn’t it a school level training to stand near the ball and prevent someone from taking it fast? Colombia struck the post twice as the entire defence looked clueless. Refereeing was horrible too. It was a clear tuck on Otamendi’s shirt. Still there was no VAR. Messi was fouled so badly, still there was not even a free-kick called out. But don’t we expect these in Brazil? Sticky pitch, poor refereering … I thought the entire team knew all these were coming. And such knowledge calls for extra caution, extra alertness. That was seriously lacking today. Either the team was tired or they are not feeling as aligned to the mission as Messi, Emiliano, Di Maria and De Paul. Final would be even tougher. You just need to touch Neymar in the box and the referee would happily blow his whistle with finger pointed towards the controversial white spot. There would be no reference to VAR or anything. We should start the match with that awareness and keep the napping for the bedroom, where it suits the best. If the defense plays how we played today it would be a horrible experience for us in the final. Mr. Scaloni, get Romero healed fast. A defense without Romero and Acuna is looking like a woodpecker with beaks of rubber. It was a disappointing display today but in the end, the two Martinezes brought smiles on our face. Reminded us of Sergio Goycochea, who took us to 1990 final and not an injured Maradona.

    • Main concern is our right back side. Neymar will destroy molina i don’t know how scaloni will solve this. This is a horrible decision to drop foyth and select 4 goalies unbelievable

  48. Emi gonna need a wheelbarrow to carry around his massive balls. What a sublime performance. Talked all that shit, got into their heads, and backed it up!

    Basically said stuff like “are you nervous? I know you’re nervous, I know you, don’t miss”

    Heres Emi thanking Mina lol
    twitter.com/TheKendallBaker/status/1412610574895267841?s=19

    • Balls of steel lol. If I am not mistaken it was in 2016 when Emi saved three penalties against Bayern in a mini tournament in the Summer.

  49. The Dream continues… Next up Brazil. It doesn’t get bigger than this, a final vs our eternal enemies at Maracanã Stadium. In fact, the ultra-rivalry in world football. I am sure the players will bring out their best version for the Final. They must. Because even if they don’t have the intimidating players like the old, Brazil is Brazil, its near impossible to beat them in their home ground with all the support they have from the associations. We have to score goals there is no way other than that we can win. Messi has to bring back his old version for 1 more match (He is already doing near that)

    With Emiliano as our GK there is good possibility that we can always perform well in Penalty shootouts, He is a dam expert in this. What a blessing he has been for us. His Ariel game also helps Argentina a lot. He is always ever present trying to pluck the ball from Air while crosses coming. He is young too he should serve us for as much as possible. One of the best Goal Keeper we had in a decade.

    I really don’t know why Guido is always holding on to the ball and inviting unwanted pressure, Paredes is much better in passing, Guido is better in defense which may again give him the benefit against Brazil. Pezzella should be replaced with Romero in Final I hope Romero is amply rested now. Lautaro even though scored a goal is a culprit for criminally missing a chance which was literally given to him in a silver platter. Against Brazil we may not get any chances like this whatever we gets we have to score. Again saying even though Nico Gonzalez didn’t play well he contributes to our defense a lot. Where as Di Maria as a Super sub is a revelation don’t start Di Maria, with all his trickiness and turns he can create crazy havoc against tiring legs of opponents.

    For now, we can live in the moment. This is what we all crave for. All the best for Finals.

  50. Vamos Argentina!
    We lost in copa finals too many times. Just by law of averages we should win this one! And this generation of Messi, Di Maria, Kun etc deserves at least this much!

    But Scaloni needs to sort the team a bit.
    Di Maria and Lo Celso both need to play.
    Play papu or kun in place of Nico.
    Play Acuna.

  51. Amazing penalty win!!!! Damn after all the heart break of 2015 and 2016 Ohhhhh damn this was needed .. we’ll celebrate for now but…Looking at the game We have to learn a lot ..Luiz Diaz owned Our Left side ..We have to come up with a proper defensive strategy against Neymar and the The Brazilian wingers…It’s time Nico gets to the bench …he offers a lot but I think Di Maria or papu should get the nod ahead of him..and just hoping that Romero will be fit to partner ota at the back..The other thing is Throughout this tournament We Go All out attack the first 10-15 mins of the game and then once we get the lead we just defend deep and gift the opposition all the possession and we just try to counter..that alone won’t work ..Our players have should we have keep the ball and keep putting the pressure..I have seen some solid ball retention moments by the team..if we combine this with Defending deep at times then we should be unstoppable force …but we are a possession team of possession players we have to play to that strength …Vamos Argentinooooo!!!

  52. Tonight I’ll sleep soundly and peacefully. I was tense the entire second half and through the penalties.

    We have to win this one and with God’s grace, we will. We’ll beat Brazil!
    We’ll beat Brazil 2-1!

  53. The most important position we need to rectify is RB. I am still out of idea that how on earth Montiel got selected in the squad. Molina is not the answer but ofcourse better than any other option we have in this tournament. I think Foyth with proper guidance and development could give more stability for us there (Scaloni and team should mentor him heavily to take that errors cleared out of him) so that atleast by worldcup we have an above average proper RB. Hope Romero can come back to save our ass in the final. Emi is a Giant. Congrats to all team members and supporters. Now bleed blue to clinch that title away from Brazil.

    • He said that he has lot’s of friends in the Argentina team and wants to play us in the final, but that Brazil will win (if that is what you’re referring to)

  55. Man, Emi is a boss. Trash talking during the penalty shootout…brilliant. He has been outstanding only behind Messi. I forgive Depauls miss because he has played well this copa but his penalty taking time in this copa is over. On to another final in Brazil vs Brazil…what are Argentina’s chances realistically people? I’m waiting for Neymars antics…I can only imagine what he’s gonna pull during the final

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