Hey everyone,
Tata Martino will have to decide on a replacement for Nicolas Gaitan who is not only suspended for the next game but is also injured. He is apparently choosing between Erik Lamela and Ezequiel Lavezzi. To me it’s hard to decide between these two amazing players. Lamela has been playing very well for us but we all know how good Lavezzi is and everything he can do for us. What do you guys think? Who would you pick?
VAMOS ARGENTINA!!
While a lot of the focus from Argentina’s 4-1 victory against Venezuela will go to either Gonzalo HIGUAIN’s 2 goals or Lionel MESSI equaling Gabriel BATISTUTA’s National Team goal tally, we should not take anything away from the performance of Sergio ROMERO.
With the score at 2-0 and about 15 minutes remaining in the first half, Venezuela applied the pressure and got more than their fair share of chances. Luckily for Argentina, ROMERO was there to save the day. A fantastic save following miss-communication between he and MASCHERANO was followed by a tip save over the goal and which was then overshadowed by a penalty save.
Had any of those gone in, Argentina would have went into half-time with a 2-1 lead rather than a 2-0 lead and who knows what could have happened. Tata MARTINO came out after the match praising ROMERO and saying that his saves were key to the team going into the break calm.
Here were Sergio ROMERO’s 3 saves in the first half.
Lionel MESSI, Gonzalo HIGUAIN, Ever BANEGA and Ramiro FUNES MORI all spoke to the press following Argentina’s quarter-final win on Saturday.
Here’s what they had to say:
Lionel MESSI:
“I like this team’s character and how we always go out to be the protagonists.”
“It’s not easy to reach two consecutive finals. We always want to win but we also have to realize what we’ve done. We’re doing things really well, we’re growing and we have to continue this way.”
“I’m happy for having equaled BATISTUTA’s record but my mind is set on lifting the Copa America.”
Gonzalo HIGUAIN:
“I was calm, confident and luckily the goals came.”
Ever BANEGA:
“We went into the second half with the mindset of finishing up the match and we did just that.”
Ramiro FUNES MORI:
“I think the match against the United States will be an intense match. We don’t underestimate anyone.”
Tata MARTINO spoke to the media following Argentina’s 4-1 win against Venezuela on Saturday.
MARTINO spoke about ROMERO’s save, MESSI equaling Gabriel BATISTUTA’s goalscoring record and more.
Here’s what he had to say:
“The penalty which ROMERO saved was key for us to go calmly into half-time. We had a lot of goal scoring chances and we’re fair winners.”
“For the third goal the team was moving the ball around better and felt comfortable. The second half was very good. We have two exceptional goalscorers. HIGUAIN and AGUERO are decisive.”
“MESSI knows that he can unbalance teams and that they’ll mark him tightly. But he understood the match very well. He already tied it, but I would like for MESSI to surpass BATISTUTA in this Copa America.”
“We need to focus on the United States and try not to give them options.”
Argentina booked their place in the semi-finals of the Copa America with a 4-1 win against Venezuela.
Gonzalo HIGUAIN got off the board at this Copa with two goals, Lionel MESSI providing one goal and two assists while substitute Erik LAMELA came on and added his name to the score sheet.
Support the site, win prizes, and be part of the Albiceleste family!
