Giovani Lo Celso scored for Argentina in their 1-0 win against Venezuela.
The Argentina national team were without Lionel Messi and Franco Mastantuono but it was Giovani Lo Celso who scored.
The first half saw Nicolás Tagliafico and Marcos Senesi having a lot of the ball. Nico Paz nearly gave Argentina the 1-0 lead but his effort from outside of the penalty area was saved by the goalkeeper and hit the post.
Venezuela nearly took a 1-0 lead when a cross inside the penalty area beat Emiliano Martinez as it was an open net but it was missed.
Moments later, Julián Álvarez passed it to Lautaro Martínez who found Giovani Lo Celso and he would score to give Argentina the 1-0 lead. Lo Celso now has four goals with the Argentina national team.
After half time, Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni would substitute Nicolás González in for Nicolás Tagliafico. Nico Paz had an effort on goal from outside of the penalty area which was saved by the goalkeeper.
Giuliano Simeone was substituted in for Leandro Paredes. Venezuela nearly drew level but their effort hit the crossbar.
Scaloni substitute in Rodrigo De Paul, Leonardo Balerdi and Alexis Mac Allister for Julián Álvarez, Nahuel Molina and Enzo Fernández.
Giuliano Simeone had a low pass into the penalty area but Nico Paz was unable to get to the end of it. Lautaro Martínez had an effort from close range which was saved by the goalkeeper.
Alexis Mac Allister had an effort from outside of the penalty area which was also saved. Argentina were awarded a free kick and it was Rodrigo De Paul who took it and his cross found an unmarked Leonardo Balerdi but his header went wide.
Argentina would win 1-0 and they will play Puerto Rico on Tuesday in Miami.
Giovani Lo Celso's goal for Argentina vs. Venezuela. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/f1ZvXXKzzq
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 11, 2025
This by Enzo Fernández. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/HGgubSV6PY
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 11, 2025
Lautaro could scored goals..today..Big chance missed..5…!
Lautaro I know since youth level is no more..we need to find a proper CF at the earliest..
Post match review
I won’t say it is a good performance .Actually Venezuela is weak .I will expect a big win indeed however Lautaro missed a few chances .For tactics first half should be 433 with Paz replace messi then paz move towards midfield formation changed in to 4222 without wingers .That’s just OK since Venezuela is weak . Second half 4222 gradually changed in to 352 with balerdi Romero,senesi are full backs. Gonzalez ,Simeone are wingers . Paz partner with lautaro .I would say 352 is better than 4222.
Dibu : Reliable
Romero: Deserved to be captain
Senesi: Not a good game ,he is very slow .I don’t think he passed the test
Balerdi: Limited playing time
Tagliafico: Decent performance
Molina: Attack better than defense ,but without any choice and new faces ,he may be better than montiel
Gonzalez : capable of being LB and winger ,fast ,strong .Should be a valuable back up on the left
Enzo : the best player connect the whole team
Lo celso: scorer but second half is invisible .it seems his form is declining with age ,definitely not the best lo celso we had seen .Can be substitute.
Nico Paz: if he is replacing de Paul as no.8 then he played very well .if he is replacing di Maria or messi as winger or attacking midfield he failed .first half is very sharp and his position is between winger and no.8 .However second half is not good at all especially he partnered lautaro .So his best position should be no.8 which means he can replace either de paul or mcallister.
Simeone: Fast only ,not that skilful. weaker version of Gonzalez .He can be used as a winger but definitely not the most suitable winger on the right .let’s see if he can be changed into a RB .
lautaro : HIS form is declining also ,missing so many chance . except one assist then overall performance isn’t good at all .scaloni must think about 3rd striker
Alvarez : Didn’t offer too much ,actually Alvarez lautaro combination never convinced me .
Conclusion
Senesi is slow may not be the first choice to partner Romero .Let’s see if foyth or N Perez have chance or not .scaloni may test Balerdi too . Gonzalez is capable of backing up our LB . that means we may have almada and Gonzalez on the left .
Nico paz should compete with de Paul or mcallister ,lo celso .He is a good player ,promising ,our future no.8
Scaloni should find out another right winger both paz and Mastantuono failed . if messi is missed then only simeone can be used or Gonzalez that’s not enough .Bounanotte isn’t a winger ,he play as a attacking midfield at Chelsea. Only Soule ,Maher carrizo and Carboni can fulfill the job .
Venezuela changed their GK? He was saving everything comes..still, we lacked that world class finish..Messi would have scored..!
I think Paz has a good game.. 👏 👏
But what formation we played..and at the end what was the formation…I really confused..
As Messi and Mastantuono out, Scaloni forced to try new formation..?
scaloni want to try 433 with paz replaced messi .Then paz move into midfield as a player between no.10 and no.8 .tagliafico and Molina as two wingers that’s 4222. at that moment ,paz is very sharp . however second half with lo celso invincible and paz not that sharp our two sides suffered then gradually changed in to 352 .balerdi ,Romero ,Senesi .plus two wingers Gonzalez, simeone . Paz moved forward with lautaro
Haven’t seen this in a long time, the opponent’s GK changing into Wolverine from X-MEN and stopping everything but it’s a win and ARGENTINA basically played in their half for more than 85% of the whole game.
Venezuela’s GK played the match of his life. Lautaro was denied multiple times. Looking forward to see Flaco Lopez, Paz, Senesi & Balerdi start in next friendly. Let Cuti, Lautaro rest as subs.