Home Blog Page 1024

Lionel Messi on Argentina win: “Individual awards are secondary, we are here for something else”

Roy Nemer
-
66

Lionel Messi scored once and assisted twice for Argentina in their 3-0 win vs. Ecuador as they are now in the semi finals.

Messi was as influential as ever for Argentina and an assist in the first half, another assist in the second and a goal in the second means he leads the Copa America with four goals and four assists. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:

“It was a very difficult match, we knew about the difficulty of the opponent. It was hard fought until we got the goal, then it got more tangled. The important thing is that we took one more step.

“We tried to play, at times we couldn’t, the pitch didn’t help much. We played a very important match. One of our objectives was to be among the top four best teams. Now we have to rest because there is little time until our next game.”

In regards to the Copa America and the team:

“I have always said: The individual awards are secondary, we are here for something else. I want to congratulate the group for the work they have been doing, it has been several days that we are away from our families. We have an objective and we are thinking about it.”

Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Rodrigo De Paul score in 3-0 Argentina win at Copa America

Roy Nemer
-
52

Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul all scored for Argentina in their 3-0 win vs. Ecuador at the Copa America.

It was a match which saw Argentina have control of the ball and create many opportunities in the first half but only had one goal to show for it. Lautaro Martinez had the first real chance of the match as he was charging towards the penalty area, beat the goalkeeper but his effort was cleared off the line.

The biggest chance of the match at the time fell to Lionel Messi. A back pass by Ecuador and the ball fell to Lionel Messi who was one on one with the goalkeeper but his effort hit the post.

That’s not to say that Ecuador did not have chances. Two crosses inside the Argentina penalty area as they almsot scored but both efforts went just wide.

Rodrigo De Paul got the first goal of the match off a play started by Messi himself. Messi with a ball into Nicolas Gonzalez but he was taken out by the goalkeeper as the ball fell to Messi once more. While most expected him to shoot for goal, he would play a pass into Rodrigo De Paul and he would control the ball and place it in the corner of the net to give Argentina the 1-0 lead.

Nicolas Gonzalez had a chance to double the lead. A free kick for Argentina as Messi would cross it into the penalty area but Gonzalez would have his header saved by the goalkeeper and his effort off the rebound would be saved.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni would make several changes, one of which saw Guido Rodriguez and Angel Di Maria come in. Guido added some much needed stability for Argentina as Di Maria was a threat moving forward.

Angel Di Maria would pressure the Ecuadorian back line and win the ball back as he would pass it to Messi and Messi would play it to Lautaro Martinez who would place the ball into the top corner of the net to give Argentina the 2-0 lead.

De Paul would play a cross from deep which found Di Maria and he would get taken down on the edge of the penalty area. The referee would give a red card to the Ecuadorian player and it would be an Argentina free kick.

Messi would take it and score as he would aim towards the goalkeeper’s side and beat the goalkeeper for the third goal of the match. Lionel Messi leads the Copa America with four goals and four assists.

Argentina eleven for quarter final, Pezzella, Paredes back in line-up

Roy Nemer
-
219

The Argentina eleven has been announced as Cristian Romero will is not part of the squad and German Pezzella starts in his place.

In addition to that change, Leandro Paredes is back in the eleven ahead of Guido Rodriguez while Nicolas Gonzalez starts on the left side. Here is the eleven:

Emi Martínez; Molina, Pezzella, Otamendi, Acuña; De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás González

The five players left out of the squad are Cristian Romero, Juan Musso, Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Domínguez and Julián Alvarez.

Argentina rumored eleven for quarter final match at Copa America

Roy Nemer
-
65

Argentina will play Ecuador in the final quarter final match of the Copa America and coach Lionel Scaloni reportedly still has a few doubts.

Historically, Argentina have a clear advantage when it comes to their head to head matches vs. Ecuador. Taking into consideration official matches and friendly games, Argentina have 21 wins with 10 draws and five defeats against Ecuador.

Their most recent encounter was a World Cup qualifying match back in October which ended in a 1-0 win for Argentina as Lionel Messi scored a penalty.

Lionel Scaloni is expected to make several changes from the last match, which was a 4-1 win vs. Bolivia. Gonzalo Montiel, Exequiel Palacios, Angel Correa and Sergio Aguero, who all started that match are not expected to be in the eleven for the quarter final match.

The inclusion of Cristian Romero is still the big doubt as Scaloni and the team will reportedly wait to make a decision on him due to his fitness. In addition, Scaloni did confirm that Gio Lo Celso will be starting in midfield while some reports coming out are stating that Leandro Paredes will start in place of Guido in midfield. Per TNT Sports, here is the rumored Argentina eleven:

Emi Martínez; Molina, Romero or Pezzella, Otamendi, Acuña; De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Messi, Lautaro and Nico González

Nicolas Otamendi gives Argentina press conference before quarter final match

Roy Nemer
-
106

Nicolas Otamendi spoke to the press prior to the team’s quarter final match.

Otamendi is expected to start for Argentina vs. Ecuacor in Saturday’s quarter final match. An experienced defender, Otamendi spoke to the press on Friday. Here’s what he had to say:

“The most important thing from a leader is being able to give information to the younger players, transmitting what it means to play for the Argentina national team.

“We are very focused on this Copa. We have a very good group, the 28 that are here feel important and we don’t relax.”

Regarding the defending:

“A solid defense gives you a better attack. With the potential in attack that we have, it’s important to give them (the attackers) some security for them to be able to attack with a peace of mind. We have to try and have order in defense to take advantage of the potential we have in midfield and up the pitch.

“We have to stay focused for 90 minutes and adjust details. Because of one detail, you could be eliminated and that is why we must be focused.”

On the Argentina team and the Copa America:

“We are taking on this new challenge with great enthusiasm. In every tournament, we have to think that we are here to win it and that’s what we are looking for.

“This shirt demands commitment and to win tournaments. One always wants to leave a mark on his country. We will try to do our best to keep moving forward.

“The group is very important when it comes to a long tournament. We are all available for the coach. We have to push ourselves for the training sessions to be good, to make it difficult for the coach to pick his team.

“Our mentality is to take this match by match. We have to give our all to continue advancing.”

1...1,0231,0241,025...1,705Page 1,024 of 1,705