Ángel Di María free kick, Lautaro Martínez and Alexis Mac Allister score for Argentina

By
Roy Nemer
-
49

The reigning World champions scored three goals in their 3-1 win vs. Costa Rica.

Argentina created three goal scoring opportunities in the first half but all three were saved by Keylor Navas. Alejandro Garnacho had an effort on goal from a difficult angle which was saved by Navas and Gio Lo Celso got to the rebound but Navas made an even better save to keep Argentina score less.

Minutes later, it was a free kick for Argentina and it was Nicolás Otamendi with the great header but once more, Navas with an even better save. Costa Rica did not create any goal scoring chances up until their goal.

A counter attack by Costa Rica, Nicolás Otamendi was beaten for speed and the initialy shot was saved by Walter Benítez but they would score off the rebound.

The second half would start the same way as the first half did, with Argentina creating chances. A first chance fell to Enzo Fernández but his effort from close range was saved by Navas.

It would take an Ángel Di María free kick to beat Navas. Argentina were awarded a free kick and it was Di Maria who took it, curling it over the wall and beating Navas to draw Argentina level.

Minutes later, Argentina would score another goal. It was a corner kick for Argentina and the ball fell to Nicolás Otamendi who headed it towards Nicolás Tagliafico who hits it with his shoulder and the ball would strike the crossbar, fall to Alexis Mac Allister and he would score to give Argentina the 2-1 lead.

Lautaro Martínez would be substituted in for Alejandro Garnacho and he would get his first goal for Argentina in over a year. A pass from the outside of the foot by Rodrigo De Paul to Lautaro and he would score off a difficult angle.

Lionel Scaloni would substitute Leandro Paredes for Alexis Mac Allister, Lautaro Martínez for Alejandro Garnacho, Rodrigo De Paul for Gio Lo Celso, Valentín Carboni for Ángel Di María, Nicolás González for Enzo Fernández and Germán Pezzella for Nicolás Otamendi.

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49 Comments

  1. I don’t know about you guys but for me I’m exciting scaloni gave Carboni Argentina debut because there were always possibilities Italy would have come for him since he played for them under 18s . I hope he does well for his club so he will have a chance to part of copa America squad.

    • It was our team vs Navas for most of the time till they suddenly scored in transition play. They outran Otamendi to score. Benitez made a basic mistake of fisting the ball in front. After that for next 5 mins, the team looked very nervy and started making a mess of themselves. I believe Scaloni needs to explain to the team that falling behind a goal or two is normal irrespective of whether you are a World Champion or not. 2022 is history. Keep that memory as a confidence booster and not as a feeling that “nobody can score past us”.

  5. After Copa America it will be criminal for Scaloni to keep Pezella, Armani. Should Dimaria decide to retire, Otamedi should follow suit. Against top teams like Spain, Germany Otamedi will be the weak link.
    Time to incorporate new younger defenders like Valentini and Marcos Senesi.
    Bigger problem is should Messi retire alongside Dimaria, the attack will be blunt and lack creativity.

    • Fully with you. Again Otamendi was beaten by pace today. He should be on reserve and not in the starting line up. We definitely need a younger central defender.

    • Otamendi will be a liability against ALL teams because we will face a lot of tight defenses looking to counter. We need speedy defenders who can defend counters. That will be our number 1 weakness and its wear Otamendi is at his worst!

      Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, USA, Uruguay, etc.

  6. Hi everyone.

    Why is there so much hate for GLC? He is our 4th midfielder for Scaloni. He was among the best against El Salvador and Scored. And by the way for the stats tonight…

    GLC 90% Accurate passes, Enzo 88% and Maca 82%.
    Key Passes GLC 2, Enzo 2, Maca 0.
    Ground duels won GlC 8 of 11, Enzo 4 of 5, Maca 6 of 11.
    Tackles GLC 5, Enzo 1, Maca 4
    Dribbled past GLC 1, Maca Enzo 0
    Was fouled GLC 3, Enzo 2, Maca 2
    Playtime GLC 72′, Enzo 82′, Maca 60′

    • Great stat’s for GIO as if performs well as he often does for ARG, well i would pick him even he might not play regular at all for his current club, though obviouly he needs to play more also with his current club and hopefully after theese 2 friendlies with ARG he will get more of playing time….

      I’m more worried about who will play cover for Molina and btw RDP alkways plays better also for his country than his club

      I think he get’s critized a lot for, because of his injury background and not playing currently so much with his club + maybe some from his finishing, though he scored a great goal and had good chanches as unfortunatly same can not be said about Nico’s golden chance as if it had been GIO he would had ran until the end and make sure by sliding it in etc… as GIO is also good at defenssive wise and Scaloni knows this too…

      So i would not be worried about him as if he only manages to stay fit, well then i’m pretty sure he will be selected, though there is obviouly competion and only certain amount makes it to to the Copa

      So i quess better stay trusting the coaching as they have delivered something unique indeed in history of whole time football and, that record will be hard to beat + they have a chance to make it even harder to beatso they night end up with incredible record ( which they allready have ), none can repeat as a bit like West Indies Cricket team has in the history of Cricket!

    • Celso is hella talented, a true classy midfielder….but sadly he can’t stay fit to save his life and any successful national team needs foundational players who are almost always there when needed and Gio -due to his never ending injuries- isn’t one of them.

    • Not even close to the hate used to storm against Di maria in this forum. Hope Locelso too will silence the critics and blind comments. Sure he is going through a toughest challenge of his career but no doubt that he will overcome it, especially when you have the trust and confidence of the serene and calm coaches like scaloni. He also should do a favour to himself by getting rid of that sh*t and overrated club to work more on his fitness and recovery. It is not a coincidence that Foyth, Lamela, Lo celso and even Romero have all a constant streak of injuries.

    • To be honest Lo Celso is my favorite player after Messi and Alvarez. I wish he’s more accurate with scoring. He’s so creative and also good at winning balls back.

      • He is only second to Messi, tied with depaul interms of goal assists during Scaloni era (one of the best Argentina’s football era)-11 assissts. I belief Spurs is always a step back for any world talent. His days in Betis even his loan spell in Villareal are testimonies that if he can make right choice still has a lot to offer. Unfortunately many fans, at least here, are obsessed with zero sum game analysis-to appreciate one talent has to dawn grade another one.

    • Very good stats. I saw him a bit too hesitant when we had the ball on attack. Thought there were some instances when he could have been a bit more ambition or quicker with the decision.

  9. My Current takes on the National team.

    1) We need Lisandro. Otamendi can stay as a backup for Copa only and must retire after. Come to Inter Miami lol.

    2) We should have the Mid-field trio of RDP, Mac and Enzo (as DM) can switch between Paredes and Enzo. I hope Palacios is fit as back up. Carboni impressed but he is more a winger.

    3) I liked Garnacho. If Dimaria does not start I would like Garnacho over Nico G. Which is an upgrade. Lautaro or Alvarez depend on Opposition but I like Lautaro coming in if we are behind. Messi is Messi.

    4) Full backs – Molina is set. Change between Tagli and Barco. No more Acuna please. Need a back up for Molina. How is Monteal doing?

    5) Dibu is a must behind Cuti and Licha. Dibu is a win if it goes to penalty shootout. I am not scared of Shootout anymore. Thanks to Dibu.

    We should be able to defend Copa America

    Any thoughts?
    Vamos Albiceleste

      • Yes true fit Dybala will be +👍 and Soule and Almada are good options both too for ARG🇦🇷 though, somehow i have feeling, that Scaloni will not leave that many WORLD CHAMPIONS out who are Still currently with team…., but some realky have to an looks/ seems like at least Acuna ” El huevo ” could be left out and i will drop Pezzella and Armani too as Benitez, Gazzaniga etc…Arg has quite many goalies who can be cover for DIBU, though DIBU has to stay fit and healthy as LEO & ADM specially as i think ATG will need his amazing scoring abbility for the last time, unfortunatly as him will be missed so badly after Copa, though U-turns has hapoened before also and now currently age of 36, well hard to tell how his body will be at age of 38 as only him has the prior to know, period!

      • Dybala is awesome if fit. The problem is that his fitness is 40/60 all the time. Almada and Soule are in the Olympic team. They are great addition for the future. Carboni could be a real possibility for Copa if Dybala is injured.

        • Yes obviouly u are right about DYBALA’s fitness as it has alkways been a concern, unfortunatly and Yes also Carboni could be an good option as i think he could play also not only on the side as more center wise like cover/ sub for MESSI as i think he is quite inteligent player who could come/develop to even more a great player than he us alllready currently etc…

          and most propably Almada will not be selected as he will be in the Olympics and same might be for others as Soule and Paz, + Echeverti one day ,

          though, would like to see them involded allready with senior team, but i understand there is less than 100 days left and that is why i don’t expect that many changes from coaching, though they should focus on the defense as the priority 1 this time, because currently there might be some concerns etc…and maybe some replacements, but time is also limited so hard to say really what the coaching has in Mind etc…

    • Horsesh*t. He will pick Nico Gonzalez, Otamendi, Pezzella, Armani even if hell freezes over.

      May be he has a thing for beards LOL. I don’t know how else this can be explained.

    • Managed to see only the 2nd half, though saw the ” highlights from the first as well”….

      1. FIDEO’s quality/ his technical abillity is just BEYOND! I truly wish him and his family all the best in his life as what a player he has been and specially for ARG🇦🇷🙌🫶 and one last trophy and ultimatly scoring in the comin’ Copa Final is all what he more than deserves for, though obviously he has allredy given ARG🇦🇷 more than anyone would had asked for him, and his legacy will live forever as MESSI’ s DIEGO’s etc🇦🇷🙌🫶 so i’m not asking for anymore blessings from him rather only wishing & hoping so🙏🇦🇷🙌🫶 and hopefully ” Pablo will wake up from his grave accordind to those death threat’s as those behind need to be put on to apoligize indeed and rather show some respect than claiming some idiototics death threat’s and ransom😤 as it make’s me really sad to hear about storie’s as theese where some nonsense idiots have a no clue of what they are doing actually🤬🤫

      2. Hopefully Licha will recover well🙏🇦🇷ARG will need him badly for the comin’ Copa!

      3. No need or no point to talk much about Ota & Pezzella as it is natural due to their age, but obviously is more than clear, that tbey have locked a pace for a quite some long time as specially Pezzella allreadywere in trouble in the last Copa against Columbia and Ota unfortunatly getting close to there as well, though i would not be surprised that he will be picked for the next Copa, but if he has to or Scaloni must do then, please only him and not both him and Pezzela!

      3. Garnacho, Barco and Carboni looked all very good taking to acount how many minutes have they played so far for LA SELECCION🇦🇷

      4. Buonanotte might be Ok as defenssive, but not really sure about his attacking threat…

      5. RCB Molina and LCB Tagliafigo do need some cover as if Licha will recover well, then him a CUTI + 1 max 2 more CB cover incase of more unwanted injuries, please🙏

      6. Is just amazing how good RDP plays for ARG instead of ATM

      7. Finally Toro got his goal as he finished it well, but RDP’s pass was also a world class👍

      8. Julian and Enzo just happened to have bad/ unlucky game for a reason or another, maybe it is due to positioning on the pitch as i think also Mac should play more in advance role and Enzo a bit deeper, but again Scaloni & Co🇦🇷 knows way better than i do👍

      9 Gio and Nico need to work more on their finishing and obviously need to play more for their clubs ( though Nico also was injured not to mention about Gio’s unlucky injury record ) so there is big thing for Scaloni to think about as obviously it all depends also much about LEO’s fittness as i pray for him to be fully fit for the Copa, though everyone else is vety needed too and if some department of the field needs to TaKe a unlucky injury blow, well then, please let it be the middfield as there ARG🇦🇷 has most of the options currently!

      10. Good to see 2 wins without MESSI and hopefully the next win will be with MESSI AGAIN🇦🇷🙏🙌

    • Scaloni is not fooling anyone. We know Emi Martinez, Romero, De Paul and Lautaro are guaranteed to be in that team. Maybe he just made that comment to keep the other players on their toes.

  11. The turning point of this match was when Lo Celso was subbed off. He was a terrible midfielder all around and always ran like a headless chicken. I doubt any Saudi League bottom teams will want him in transfer windows.

    We have lots of good midfielders now and Scaloni has done enough experiments. It’s time to permanent remove this fucking fraud from our NT.

    I will always appreciate him for missing the WC 2022. He helped Messi and Argentina in a unique way.

    • The problem is that we cannot not have either of Paredes and De Paul on the field because of their leadership qualities. Di Maria was focusing on his game and could not lead the team today like Messi. So I don’t blame Lo Celso much. He was bad. But on other days he has been good. Otamendi was again proved to be slow for a team with average age 23. He cannot be in the starting line up when we are facing a young team like Brazil, Germany etc. We need a younger central defender to give support to Cuti.

        • We all love Otamendi. But we need to be realistic. One goal in a crucial match does not make him the future. In recent times he fell behind Nunez. In 2022 final he fell behind the French forward and the penalty helped them a come back. Today he fell behind an unknown young runner. The world order is changing. Endrik, Jude and Yemals are the future of fast and pressing football. He can handle pressing. But he is falling short when opposition is in transition. Frankly, Molina is not doing great either.

        • Otamendi also scored the winning goal against Paraguay in qualifier. Basically he gave us 6 points with his goals. Our opening goal today also started from Otamendi’s header. He give us an aerial threat along with Cuti. Apart from Nico, our other forwards just dont pose an aerial threat.

    • To me Valentini is the next big thing. and he is fast… solid… robust …passing accuracy is excellent.. game prediction as well of where the ball is going… I am following him regularly.
      He will be a monster trust me… I watched all his games in the Olympic team pre quals. he was our defense leader. You will see him this summer in France. i just wished Scaloni has given him some minutes instead of pezzella to give him some exposure and confidence.

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