Argentina to play Canada in the semi finals of the Copa America

By
Roy Nemer
-
41

The Argentina national team will play Canada in the semi finals of the Copa America.

Argentina know their opponent for the semi finals. Canada played Venezuela in the quarter finals and similar to Argentina’s penalty shootout win vs. Ecuador, their match went to penalty kicks and Canada got win against Venezuela.

It will be Argentina vs. Canada at Metlife Stadium on Tuesday.

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41 Comments

  1. I Know some of you will feel offended but It’s high time Scaloni accepts the reality and starts planning post Messi/Dimaria/Otamedi/ era. The trio will be past 38+, Acuna/Pezella/ will be past 35+, Armani will be 40.
    Selection of likes of Armani, Pezella sends a wrong signaling.

    Those who rubbish inclusion of young players, should be reminded if Scaloni didn’t introduce young players like Enzo, Alvarez Argentina would have struggled. They brought new energy level. Should the likes of Varela, Equi Fernandez, Echeverri, Franco Manstatuono, barco join big clubs, be and improve their levels consistent for the next 2 seasons, it will be a huge mistake for them to be ignored. And please don’t tell me about disrupting team chemistry. Introduction of Enzo Fernandez with barely 2 months to the world cup disrupted nothing.

    • More than scaloni accepting you should accept without messi we will face the toughest phase in our history. Messi disrespect is too much here

  2. I agree. Why call Pezella while Senesi is out there. What was the point of Selecting Enzo Fernandez who hasn’t recovered from Hernia wasn’t good decision. Guido Rodriguez is just average. Good news is that Paredes rediscovered his form.
    Scaloni should have called both Varela & Equi Fernandez who were better replacement based on form. On the other hand Scaloni is yet to play Exequiel Palacios, I don’t get it.

    • Yes, Messi hadn’t fully recovered but again Messi even when fully fit just walks all the time. Also, I feel like he was trying to avoid potential injury by not dropping deep because we were already leading 1-0 at 35 mins mark and from there on Ecuador would have to push forward leaving their defense vulnerable to our attack. However, I also think our midfield and wingers having a disastrous performance made Messi look even worse. Lautaro also received zero service whatsoever! As for Messi sitting out in the semifinal, he will not play if he is unable to play but if he didn’t sit out against Ecuador when he was not 100% fit , he is not going to sit out against Canada when he will be in a much better condition. Last match is something like a blessing in disguise, a wake up call. We haven’t performed to our best since the start of this competition and in the last match I strongly believe we hit rock bottom and from here onwards we will see a true world champion team.

      • I don’t know what changes Scaloni will make but one must believe that they won’t play like they did few nights ago with or without the BOSS. Pride is on the line for ARG especially since they already beat Canada and it should have been more goals.
        5 days is plenty of rest for both the team and Messi if he is fit to play.
        BTW, Brazil is going to start their new golden child tonight since Vinny is suspended.
        Martinez for Portugal cost them with all the changes he made but kept his majesty on to please him while Jota was collecting dust on the bench and I’m pretty sure Scaloni is aware!

  5. Venezuela looked good and I thought how well they have improved but Canada tore them apart with speed and power. A big warning to the NT. Lot of them want Messi and Argentina to fail and Scaloni is doing his best to fulfill their wishes like many mindless managers before him. NT selection should be on merit and not on sentiments and making star players happy.
    looking at Yamal firing on all cylinders and other youngsters Bellingham, Musiala etc playing starring roles makes me wonder. We may not have players of that calibre but you simply have to integrate youngsters and groom them and not wait until all the old players step down and then run for cover. poor player selection and management.

    • So Scaloni doesn’t know what he’s doing now? after one lousy game when everybody played badly except Debu or has he always been bad?

      • Also LICHA and CUTI with MAC played well too, though without DIBU this COPA would had been over as that Corner given by MESSI to MAC for flick it over to LICHA was so MASSIVE too, but until the PK’s, well, yes everyone else as those mentioned was lousy indeed and honestly ADM should start for the next game and introduce BOSS as sub as i think Canada’s game plan will be trying to win in regular time as they don’t want to face DIBU in PK’s, but ARG should also look for a win in regular time and not leave it to DIBU again….as even the pitch will be slightly better it still give’s an advantage to Canada so ARG must be smart and cohessive not to give any chances away for Canada to score and TaKe the lead in the game as ARG must find away to score first and add another to kill the game in regular time as if not in DIBU WE TRUST !

      • it’s not one lousy game. They’ve struggled throughout the tournament yesterday they met their best opponent as yet. They have struggled for goals post world cup. Few thorns had to be removed right after the world cup but shockingly they get a shot at another copa. Yup, Scaloni has had his fair share of luck (& Messi ofcourse) but u can’t ride on it forever. It is criminal to carry along those below mediocre players when u have so much at ur disposal.

        • I agree. Why call Senesi while Senesi is out there. What was the point of Selecting Enzo Fernandez who hasn’t recovered from Hernia. Guido Rodriguez brings no creativity. Scaloni should have called both Varela & Equi Fernandez who were better replacement based on form. On the other hand Scaloni is yet to play Exequiel Palacios, I don’t get it.

    • Fully agreed about youngsters and player selection for this COPA Could and should had been much better than what is and Canada will go for it with all they have !

      as expecting difficult game again as only victory over Canada will do as loss will be a complete failure !

    • Sergio, you are saying about a coach who won messi copa America finalissima and the world Cup. Even if Argentina doesn’t win you can’t say bad things about him. You can’t win everytime. Can’t win every trophy. Scaloni was the coach who introduced lautaro, depaul, alvarez, enzo, McAllister, romero, lisandro, molina, emi Martinez etc so you can’t say he doesn’t give chances to youngsters you can’t expect to field a u18 squad in a tournament like this. You sound illogical

      • Yes, u are right about those 3 trophies won also about those names Scaloni has intergrated to the team and also about none will win forever and allways, but also 1 and half year has past since the WC 22 and even many of ARG’s future talent’s are young and ARG current team is still overall quite young and many of this team will be the core as DIBU CUTI LICHA MAC JULIAN TORO PALACIOS ENZO, still some should had quit allready with ARG NT and some should had not been picked as there were injury concern’s and like in case Acuna they occured again also Molina after WC 22 has not been even close unfortunatly as at the WC22 he has fantastic, so yes it hard for coach who has won it all and with same players to leave some out, but the truth is also that Pezzella should not had been included also Barco over Acuna would had been better as currently there is only Tagli also not sure if Guido will play anymore, so basicly 2-3 spots should had been made available for Dybala even he is injury prone he Could had still come handy for now example as would perhaps Barco too or one of Balerdi/ Senesi and Perez, perhaps there were not that many options for RB, but also it is true only Perez was tried out once on 1 and half year as it is also true, that now we can’t expect Garnacho or Carboni to be the game changers as they hardly featured yet for ARG NT, though we can allways wish and hope, but they should had been given more playing time with maybe some other younger players in this period between WC22 til’ the present, though there were not many games for ARG NT to be played, but with also new format of WCQ’s ARG allready qualified, when the new format was released and as there is very limited Windows for friendliess due club football, well it is not easy to intergrate younger players, but it is also true, that u can’t wait that long either so it is complicated in many ways and maybe other Nation’s are willing TaKe risk maybe by loosing presently, but maybe winning by those risk’s taken in future as obviously it does not work out for every Nation as basicly in every NT competion in the end there only one winner

        • In some point you are right to take some fresh blood in the team but not for this copa. After copa lot will change. And for Barco actually he is not even regular for his team so it is difficult for coach to choose against season campaigner like Acuna. But you are right we need to find atleast one new RB and LB.

    • You guys forget so quickly. Most of this team players discovered by Scaloni and his staff. He found them and then what they are now. Every coach makes mistakes and best of them are correct their mistakes and that’s how they grow as coach. Give me one example that coach never made any mistakes. Your point about other NT using young players and I understand however they don’t have figure like Messi or Angel in their squad otherwise they would have used them too. It’s all about smooth transition. It will happen. I believe in them and i believe they have plan for future. Also get rid of Messi ain’t that simple mate . He is still best also the financial support for AFA. We need money too.

      • In some point you are right to take some fresh blood in the team but not for this copa. After copa lot will change. And for Barco actually he is not even regular for his team so it is difficult for coach to choose against season campaigner.

  7. Start messi from the bench if he is not fit. With 10 days rest he will recover for the final but that would also means he will be short of match practice

  8. I am glad that Ecuador approached the game like the 2022 WCQ where they had completely outplayed us. Thankfully the narrowly earned victory has exposed our areas that needs improvement. Canada is a young team full of fast players and they have already played us once and tested our defense. Following the disastrous performance in the quater final, I don’t think Messi and Co will take Canada easy. We can’t afford this match to go penalties again which means Messi needs to break his duck! Without Messi on the scoresheet we always struggle to win a game by big margin.

    Also, Canada knocking out three South American teams must be a wake up call for CONMEBOL nations. The quality of futbal is declining and not able to adopt to modern style of play. Only Argentina has made it to the world cup final twice and is the only South American nation to win it in last 20 years. Argentina always had next generation of great players ready to take over retiring legends but with Messi and Dimaria retiring who is going to play the role of protagonist? The difference in skill and quality is huge ! Same with Brazil they have a team full of average players and their current best player V. Junior is very inconsistent and nowhere near the level of their legends. Neymar will be 34 years old in 2026 and with his fragile body I don’t think he can carry this average Brazil team. It feels like there is going to be a long painful drought of world cup trophy in South America.

    • At the moment it looks like Uruguay and Colombia might be those from SA who Could fight for WC26 , though there is still 2 years left and ARG basicly need to find way to play without MESSI and ADM as some positions need also some change as for example RB’s as LB’s with Barco and maybe Esquivel will do….? In the middle of the park there are quite many options left, so just need to find the right combo and i would not be that worried also up front, but this new project must start after this COPA as even we are talking 2 years still in terms of NT football, well there are not that many games to be played due to those rich clubs who just want more and more club football games….

  9. Last match was absolutely awful so I hope Scaloni’s team can bounce back. Canada is not a bad team, but we should never be afraid of them. We are world champions and #1 in FIFA ranking. If we play our best games, this should be an easy win for us.

    • Only last match! In the group games we were far from the team that did the Argentina things in 2021-22. All the group matches exposed our defence, our mediocre finish and our shakiness under pressure. I haven’t seen an Argentina team for long where players are so failing to even receive the ball or have a solid first touch. All these issues were there in the group games. Ecuador was the tip of the iceberg. If we don’t field hungrier players like Palacios, Garnacho, Carboni, Martinez in the semifinal, our display would be nothing different. And of course we need out big game man Di Maria. Canada has experienced where we can fail. They would play speedy, pressing football to hurt us at the right place and at the right moment. I think like Messi, Scaloni is also not keeping well. He did not sound well in the post-game conference.

  10. Whn I said about being hungry after a WC win, people jumped on me for that… I stand by that statement… we need to be more hungry than we are now. We are capable of showing it but we are not… Scaloni should put in the youngsters earlier in the game and tell them to show us what they can do….senior players have seen it all and done it all..

    • Nah man. That’s out of line tbh. I will never doubt this team intrigity. They still hungry otherwise they wouldn’t able to beat Varsil in Brazil.

      • Scaloni’s only responsibility (if at all he owes Argentina something) is to prepare us for the future using his current position and power to build the team.

  11. If Panama pass through also, it’s a shame for Conmebol and will arise questions how much south american teams are strong in reality!!!

  12. Why did everybody go silent all of a sudden? LOL
    ARG already played them and should have beat them easy 3 or 4 goals, they know what worked and what didn’t, they’ll play on a better turf with one more day of rest and training.

    • We had fare warnings plus practice against Ecuador for Canada. Although Canada will be pacy and physical however not same as Ecuador. We just need our mojo back. Met life ground little bit better then last shit so hopefully we can play our game. If I being honest than Final should be our only hard game. We are nowhere near our best. I was so disappointed and angry so hopefully next game real Argentina shows up.

          • Yes very true and i quess it is changing all time and coming just more tactical than ever as every team knows each others weakness and try to exploit on that, though some may stay and stick to their way of play with some modifications obviously per game, but those maybe more in club football and have the riches to do so etc…as obviously time is also on their side too as not so much any more in NT football unfortunatly….

      • If im scaloni i shall make 4 changes.
        1.enzo out paredes/guido in and play mccallister in advance role
        2.drop nico play dimaria if play nico thn replace tagliafico with acuna
        3.drop lautaro play alvarez
        And 4.drop Molina play montiel.

        • I agree with you on this lineup. I know that Lautaro has been scoring goals like crazy, but that was after Alvarez had been running at defenders for 3/4 of the game. Then Lautaro comes on a breaks down the tired defense.
          We could have Messi replace Di Maria around the same time and tear into a tired defense.

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