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Hernan CRESPO and Lionel MESSI, Argentina statistics

Roy Nemer
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Hernan CRESPO and Lionel MESSI, Argentina statistics

Hernan CRESPO and Lionel MESSI are the subject of this topic.

As it stands, Hernan CRESPO is the ALL-TIME top goal scorer in South American World Cup Qualifiers among all players. The Argentine legend currently sits at the top of the standings with 19 goals, only one in front of second place Luis SUAREZ who is on 18 goals. For Lionel MESSI, he is in the 5th place position with 16 goals, only 3 behind CRESPO and two behind SUAREZ.

World Cup Qualifiers Top Scorers
World Cup Qualifiers Top Scorers

For Lionel MESSI, Argentina has not been doing too well without him in these qualifiers. The Albiceleste have played 8 matches so far in the 2018 edition, 5 of them coming without Lionel MESSI… And their record isn’t very pretty. Only 1 win out of 5 matches.

2-0 Loss vs. Ecuador
0-0 Draw vs. Paraguay
1-1 Draw vs. Brazil
1-0 Win vs. Colombia
2-2 Draw vs. Venezuela

With Lionel MESSI, Argentina have 3 wins out of 3 matches. You can see all this and more in our World Cup Qualifier page.

2-1 Win vs. Chile
2-0 Win vs. Bolivia
1-0 Win vs. Uruguay

A somewhat alarming statistic but not one totally scary. Ecuador started off the qualifiers in fantastic form while Paraguay away from home was somewhat tricky. The team was unfortunate not to get the win against Brazil as they were the much better team and the big win against Colombia was a massive booster for a team in desparate need of a win. Against Venezuela, well, we all know what happened.

There’s still a long way to go in these qualifiers but for those who are into statistics, there they are!

Poll: How has Edgardo BAUZA done so far?

Roy Nemer
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Poll: How has Edgardo BAUZA done so far?

With two matches under his belt, Edgardo BAUZA has picked up 4 points out of a possible 6 in Qualifiers.

It’s still early days but how would you rate him so far as Argentina coach.

[socialpoll id=”2386084″]

Edgardo BAUZA: “There are things to correct”

Roy Nemer
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54
Edgardo BAUZA: “There are things to correct”

Edgardo BAUZA held a press conference following the team’s 2-2 draw against Venezuela.

Edgardo BAUZA, Lucas PRATTO and Javier MASCHERANO all spoke to the media following the match. BAUZA stressed that the team had to take risks in the second half but that there are some things to fix. Here’s what he had to say:

Edgardo BAUZA:
“The comfort I have coming out of that match is the effort that they did to come back from being 2-0 down. There are things to correct and we’ll talk about them the next time we’re all together.”

“The goal changed our look of the match and allowed us to turn around a game we didn’t want to lose 2-0. We managed to rescue something, we’ll think about what’s ahead. There’s a lot of things to think about.”

“We faced the Venezuela we were expecting to face. A vertical, aggressive team counting on RONDON’s power, it didn’t surprise us. The fact that it rained made the game better because the ball moved smoother. The pitch wasn’t all straight. The idea was to win but they complicated things. And for that, it was a point rescued. We risked a lot with the changes in the hope of getting that.”

“We were much better in the second half, able to do more of what we wanted and because of it we were able to get the draw. We wanted to win but we were losing 2-0 and the pitch wasn’t good. But at the very least we got something out of the great effort the team put in.”

Lucas PRATTO:
“It was a hard fought match. The pitch didn’t help as it complicated things. What I liked the most was the character shown from the team. Because we were losing 2-0 away from home and we kept looking for the draw.”

Javier MASCHERANO:
“The team showed character.”

 

Match highlights: Argentina fight for a draw in Venezuela

Roy Nemer
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Match highlights: Argentina fight for a draw in Venezuela

Things didn’t go as planned and it could have been much worse for Argentina against Venezuela.

No Lionel MESSI and Paulo DYBALA (also, no AGUERO and HIGUAIN although if you ask many that may have been a good thing), Edgardo BAUZA’s second match in charge of the Argentina National Team came away to last place Venezuela. With Ever BANEGA and Erik LAMELA in the line-up, Angel DI MARIA saw a lot more of the ball than he normally would and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

After a steady start to the match, two defensive errors by left back Marcos ROJO saw Venezuela take the lead through a fantastic strike by JUANPI. Half-time couldn’t have come any sooner for BAUZA’s men as the home team nearly scored a second just seconds after their first. The second half saw MARTINEZ score Venezuela’s second and at 2-0 away from home, even a draw would feel like a win.

BAUZA made some tactical changes in the second half introducing three very attack minded players in Angel CORREA (for Erik LAMELA), Lucas ALARIO (for Lucas BIGLIA) and Nicolas GAITAN (for Marcos ROJO). After some hard work in the box (and generally throughout the match) by Lucas PRATTO, the forward had luck on his side (though deserved luck) as he scored his first goal for Argentina with an outside of the boot finish to cut the lead in half. The goal seemed to have give Argentina some life and Nicolas OTAMENDI tied it all up as he scored his third goal for his country (two of those three against Venezuela as his first ever international goal came against them as well).

At 2-2, both teams were going for it and both teams had chances. For Venezuela, a free kick which Sergio ROMERO came out for but completely missed and the Venezuelan player missed an open net as he headed the ball above the bar. Their second chance came after Sergio ROMERO didn’t catch the ball properly and it fell to a Venezuelan player inside the area who’s shot hit the post.

Considering the players who were absent for Argentina and possible fatigue after having to play with 10 men for 45 minutes against Uruguay just days earlier, this result could have been much worse for BAUZA and his team.

Venezuela’s first goal:

Venezuela’s second goal:

Lucas PRATTO’s goal:

Nicolas OTAMENDI’s goal:

The reaction from the bench on OTAMENDI’s goal:

Argentina vs. Venezuela – Kickoff delayed

Roy Nemer
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69
Argentina vs. Venezuela – Kickoff delayed

Argentina vs. Venezuela has been delayed by 30 minutes.

In typical CONMEBOL fashion, Tuesday night’s World Cup Qualifier between Argentina and Venezuela has been delayed by 30 minutes. The match will now begin at 7:30pm Eastern time (Toronto), 12:30am in London, England. CONMEBOL made the announcement a few hours ago. Here’s Argentina’s line-up for the match:

ROMERO; ROJO, FUNES MORI, OTAMENDI, ZABALETA; MASCHERANO, BIGLIA; DI MARIA, BANEGA, LAMELA; PRATTO

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