Home Blog Page 1004

Tests to be done on Cristian Romero following injury with Argentina

Roy Nemer
-
11

Tests will be conducted on Cristian Romero on Monday to determine the severity of his injury.

Cristian Romero, who scored Argentina’s opening goal in their 2-2 draw vs. Colombia, was substituted off in the second half. A muscle injury saw the Serie A defender of the season replaced by German Pezzella.

Per a report by ESPN, tests will be done on Romero on Monday. In addition, should Romero not be fully fit, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is expected to still call him up for the Copa America. The final squad is expected to be announced on Thursday.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni: “We deserved to win”

Roy Nemer
-
94

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference following Argentina’s 2-2 draw vs. Colombia.

Scaloni commented on the team’s overall game and Juan Foyth’s error which proved to be decisive. Speaking to the press, here’s what Scaloni had to say:

“When you think it’s all done, no, it’s not. Sadly, we’re leaving with one point when we deserved all three. Argentina deserved to win. Up until the 94th minute, what we were doing was really good and the last play gave them a point; it wasn’t deserved.

“We deserved the three points. I have to congratulate the players because they played a good match in the heat, on a difficult pitch and against a good opponent.”

In regards to the Juan Foyth’s mistake which led to Colombia’s second goal:

“It’s individual errors, not defensive. The defensive play of the team was perfect up until that play. It was a specific error and nothing more.”

Argentina always dominated the play and did so in the six matches. Sometimes more vertical. We were always superior to our opponents, we deserved to win in all of them but being deserving doesn’t count.

“It’s the last play and it changes the entire match. The rest of the 94 minutes and a half were perfect.”

Lionel Scaloni also commented on putting the team together:

“We had a lot of difficulty putting the team together and the substitutes. There were players who surely weren’t going to finish the match because they had just came back from injury. Let’s hope now that they fully recover.”

The next game for Argentina is on Monday, June 14 vs. Chile in their opening match of the Copa America.

Emiliano Martinez: “I’m better, it was a strong hit”

Roy Nemer
-
21

Emiliano Martinez had to be substituted off for Argentina in their 2-2 draw vs. Colombia but the goalkeeper is already doing better.

Martinez was having a strong game for Argentina, coming out catching and clearing every ball crossed into the Argentina penalty area. However, on one cross, he was knocked down and his head hit the pitch. Martinez had to be stretchered off and substituted for Agustin Marchesin.

The goalkeeper spoke after the match with a quote on the Argentina Twitter page. Here’s what Martinez had to say:

“I’m better, it was a strong hit but the doctors did their job. Obviously I wanted to continue playing, the anger of being taken out and I found out that they drew at the end. It’s a bitter taste but I’m fine.

“They took me out because I lost consciousness a little, I hit the back of my neck hard but the crying and the anger was because it was my second match with the Argentina national team and I didn’t want to be substituted. But the doctors did their job.”

The official Argentina Twitter page also tweeted out that Martinez is fine and will be returning to Buenos Aires with the rest of the squad.

Argentina drop two valuable points in 2-2 draw vs. Colombia

Roy Nemer
-
70

Argentina were awarded a free kick early in the match and it was Rodrigo De Paul with the cross into the penalty area. The ball found Cristian Romero and his header beat Ospina to give Argentina the 1-0 lead.

Leandro Paredes would double that lead just minutes later. Paredes would dribble past several Colombia players inside the penalty area and his shot would make it 2-0 with both goals coming in the first 8 minutes of the match.

With Argentina leading 2-0, they would start to move the ball around and nearly got a third. Gio Lo Celso started a counter attack as his pass found Lautaro Martinez. The Inter man would have his shot saved and it would fall to Nicolas Gonzalez but his shit would hit the side netting.

A very dangerous play would result in an injury to Emiliano Martinez. Colombia crossed into the penalty area and Emiliano Martinez grabbed it but contact by Mina meant the the goalkeeper would fall, slamming his head onto the pitch. He would stay down for well over 5 minutes before being stretchered off and replaced by Agustin Marchesin.

With the score at 2-0, it was a Colombia counter attack but a tackle by Cristian Romero as he would get a yellow card. It was Romero’s second yellow of the World Cup qualifiers meaning he will miss Argentina’s next qualifying match vs. Venezuela in September.

The second half saw two goals, one at the very start and one at the very end. Nicolas Otamendi with a foul inside the penalty area and Colombia were awarded a penalty. Agustin Marchesin went the wrong way as Colombia were able to pull one back.

Several great saves by Colombia goalkeeper Ospina kept his team in the match until the very end.

Lionel Scaloni made several changes in the second half. Exequiel Palacios was brought in for Gio Lo Celso, Cristian Romero for German Pezzella and Nicolas Gonzalez was taken out for Juan Foyth.

Scaloni’s team were leading 2-1 as Juan Foyth was on the ball with seconds left in the match. He was dispossed near the area as a cross was sent in and Colombia scored with the last play of the game to draw level.

Argentina vs. Colombia match preview, Lionel Messi, Cristian Romero to start

-
254

Argentina plays against Colombia this Tuesday in Barranquilla at the Estadio
Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, for Matchday 8 of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. The match is set to kick off at 7:00pm Eastern, 8:00pm in Argentina.

After drawing 1-1 with Chile last Thursday, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is preparing some changes for today’s game. Per reports by the Argentine media, a 5-3-2 would be the chosen formation to face Colombia. Nicolás Otamendi, Gonzalo Montiel, Marcos Acuña, and Giovani Lo Celso would enter in the starting eleven replacing Juan Foyth, Nicolás Tagliafico, Lucas Ocampos, and Ángel Di María.

The national team has received much criticism from the press and the fans for the last game vs. Chile. Although Argentina had control of the ball almost the whole match, they lacked creativity and aggressiveness in the last part of the field to break Chile’s solid defensive block which included many players. That is what coach Scaloni will try to improve upon, according to what he said in this Monday’s press conference:

“We have to create many more chances. We have to do better, to be more concentrated in front of goal, that the team creates a lot more.”

Click here (Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni comments on World Cup qualifier, Copa
America, more | Mundo Albiceleste) to read the full statement by Lionel Scaloni.

Argentina’s possible lineup:

Emiliano Martínez; Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Marcos Acuña; Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso; Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez.

On the other hand, Colombia are coming from a 3-0 away win against Peru. Per several reports by the Colombian media, Colombia coach Reinaldo Rueda only has one change in mind regarding the last game. The former Boca Juniors central midfielder Wilmar Barrios would enter in the starting eleven. The only doubt would be if he will replace the striker Luis Muriel or the midfielder Gustavo Cuéllar.

Colombia’s possible lineup:
David Ospina; Stefan Medina, Yerry Mina, Davinson Sanchez, William Tesillo; Mateus
Uribe, Wilmar Barrios, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Luis Diaz, Gustavo Cuellar or Luis Muriel; Duvan Zapata.

With 11 points, Argentina is currently positioned 2nd in the standings, while Colombia is 6th with 7 points. The top 4 teams qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while the 5th will play a play-off with another confederation’s team. Up to now, there have been five matchdays played out of 18, since matchdays 5 and 6 were canceled due to Covid-19.

Argentina previous games:
1-0 vs. Ecuador (Home)
2-1 vs. Bolivia (Away)
1-1 vs. Paraguay (Home)
2-0 vs. Peru (Away)
1-1 vs. Chile (Home)

Colombia previous games:
3-0 vs. Venezuela (Home)
2-2 vs. Chile (Away)
0-3 vs. Uruguay (Home)
1-6 vs. Ecuador (Away)
3-0 vs. Perú (Away)

1...1,0031,0041,005...1,670Page 1,004 of 1,670