Paulo Dybala starts for Argentina, Lionel Messi on the bench in World Cup qualifier

By
Roy Nemer
-
45

Paulo Dybala starts for Argentina as Lionel Messi is on the bench in Friday’s World Cup qualifier.

Dybala will start for Argentina as Lionel Messi will likely play in the second half. Messi and Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni reportedly decided that Messi would not start the match. Here is the starting eleven:

Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Otamendi, Marcos Acuña; De Paul, Guido, Lo Celso; Dybala, Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez.

Angel Di Maria will captain Argentina as Leandro Paredes, Gomes Gerth, Pezzella, Gaston Avila, Nicolas Dominguez, Enzo Fernandez, Santiago Simon, Cristian Medina, Thiago Almada, Exequiel Zeballos and Matias Soule don’t make the bench.

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45 Comments

  1. Writing the name according to the priority. No one can replace this players:
    1)Messi
    2)Martinez
    3)Di maria
    4)Romero
    5)de paul

    In other positions players should compete. It is almost confirmed that we will qualify for wc. Scaloni should start experiment now.

  2. I think overall good defensive game against high pressing football. Its wasn’t a easy game.And who Ask about messi..You sholud remember,he is messi…not a bla bla player.But you can say
    he didn’t wanna score more against his friend team😀

  3. Since the Copa final:
    5 games played in the qualifiers
    4 wins, 1 draw
    One goal conceded, late in a game already won, penalty vs Venezuela.
    One yellow card, Dybala

  4. I doubt Messi would be risked if he was injured………..looks to me he didn’t want to mix it up tonight for the sake of next week AND/OR PSG and I must say, they have a point considering his health.

  5. Nico Gonzales absence was very visible on left wing and Uruguan Defence side.
    Guido Rodriguez is poor. In his place Licha Martiez who has passing and dribbling skill should have been played.

  6. What’s up with Messi? They say that Messi’s injury due to that ugly challenge from that Venezuelan defender more than a month ago. Why the effect of the injury is now?

  7. The body langage of Messi is TERRIBLE.

    Ok he have never been intense without the ball but now he dont even look a football player … he walk 99% of the time, even when his team have the ball. He have 15 minutes to play and dont even try to help his team with a little pressing. And when he touch the ball he dont try nothing with.

    I will wait the second part of the season but i begin to be worry the Copa America was his last performance … like if he was at the end of something and dont have the motivation and the physical capacity for more….

  8. Nice to add 3 points and great performances from Martinez and Romero.
    But the team performance was downright bad, especially from midfield.
    J. Correa and Papu at least tried. Something is up with Messi. He can’t even run or put pressure on opponents. He needs time to recover from injuries and get back into form.
    We will qualify for the WC, so give him some rest.

  15. 1)Till now Emi martinez is the best player on the field. A wall for arg.
    2)Romero is trying hard to defend. Need better player in defense in position of Otamendi.
    3)So many miss passes
    4)Di maria’s goal was tremendous
    5)lo celso is absolutely flop today.

  16. Good: Emi, Molina, Romero
    OK: Otamendi, Di Maria (Just the goal though)
    Not enough involvement: Lautaro, Dybala, Acuna
    Bad: Lo Celso, Guido & De Paul(His worst half in an Argentine shirt)
    It’s clearly our midfield, which is lacking in the first half. Hope it improves

  17. The good part is we were clinical. Got a chance & buried it. Its a bit like the copa strategy. Score an early goal & sit tight. I guess its a good test for defense. Guido seems lost today. Lautaro isolated. Depaul at times trying too fancy passes leading to loss of possession. All doing a decent job & Emi our saviour again..hoping to see dybala get more play in 2nd half.

  19. Emi Martinez is superb in goal and Di Maria’s goal was wonderful, but the passing accuracy is shocking. We lose the ball all the time in midfield. Di Maria, Lo Celso, DePaul all have an offday. They work hard but have not given a single decent pass to Lautaro who must feel he is on an island.

  20. Why is Palacios the only central midfielder on the bench it seems Argentina have to change guido and Giovanni both are not doing great. what a player Romero is really wiz out a doubt one of the best center backs in the world

  21. Emi Martinez, Cuti, Otamendi, Di Maria are good.

    Guido Rodriguez surprisingly is poor. He usually never played bad. One of the Acuna or Molina has to be substituted to a more defensive minded one.

  28. Good lineup, good to get Messi some rest for Brazil. I am of the opinion that we need to keep Messi out of the team sometimes solely for him to rest, not for the sake of not playing him (we obviously need the team to gel with him for the world cup) but to preserve the best version of him. I watched about 50% of Barcelona’s games last season and he looked better for them than in the Copa America, he had that extra edge and precision. Of course he was the Copa’s player and deservedly so but he didn’t look the same, more games in less time plus harder conditions. The more rest he gets, the more of his best version will show for us

  29. type on the search bar

    h t t p s : / / f u t b o l l i b r e . n e t / e n – v i v o / t y c – s p o r t s /

    im watching on this link rn

    there are 5 options. try all those

  32. The article from a few hours ago said Messi will start. I will believe it when I see it. I will be excited as long as dybala gets some minutes.
    Either way, jerseys on boys, I’m wearing away blue 2018 for tonight’s match.

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