De Paul started the match for Argentina and following Nicolás Otamendi’s red card, De Paul became the captain. Speaking to the media after the loss, here is what he had to say:
“There are always things to improve and correct. The game got a little complicated for us, but I think we were superior in the second half.
“We had a great qualifying round, we finished first, and we’ll take that too. What we do seems easy, but we always maintain a serious attitude with the team and with the bar we set for ourselves.
“Throughout the qualifying round, the team played very good fútbol.”
Nicolás Otamendi will miss Argentina’s first game at the World Cup due to suspension.
Otamendi was red carded for Argentina in their 1-0 loss against Ecuador in the World Cup qualifiers. That red card carries over to the World Cup and means that the 37 year old will miss the opening match.
The Argentine was part of the 2010 World Cup team with Argentina and the 2022 World Cup winning team.
Lionel Messi finished as top scorer of the South American World Cup qualifiers.
Messi finished the qualifiers with eight goals, the most out of any player in South America. It is the first time that the 38 year old finishes as the top scorer.
The Argentine scored in a 1-0 win against Ecuador and had both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win against Peru. Messi scored three goals in Argentina’s 6-0 win against Bolivia and two against Venezuela.
Argentina lost 1-0 against Ecuador with Nicolás Otamendi getting a red card.
Lionel Scaloni’s team lost their last match of the World Cup qualifiers with a referee that gave out a red card for both teams.
The first half started with Ecuador having most of the chances. Emiliano Martínez made a big save early on and minutes later, Leonardo Balerdi had a big block inside the penalty area.
Emiliano Martínez made another save, this time near post. Argentina did not create many chances as Ecuador kept pressuring.
Leonardo Balerdi was beaten to the ball and Nicolás Otamendi pushed Valencia from behind as the referee gave Otamendi the red card. Otamendi will miss Argentina’s first match at the World Cup as the red cards carry over from World Cup qualification.
Juan Foyth was substituted in for Giuliano Simeone and Rodrigo De Paul was the captain after Otamendi’s red card. Nicolás González was hit in the face by Hincapié’s arm and was bleeding from the mouth but the referee did not go to VAR and gave a yellow card.
In injury time, Nicolás Tagliafico headed to win the ball inside the penalty area but his arm hit the Ecuadorian player’s face.
The referee went to VAR and would award Ecuador a penalty kick. Emiliano Martínez would dive to his right and Valencia would go down the middle and score to give Ecuador the 1-0 lead.
Moments after the restart, Caicedo would get red carded for Ecuador. Lionel Scaloni would bring on Julián Álvarez, Franco Mastantuono, Nahuel Molina and Giovani Lo Celso for Lautaro Martínez, Leandro Paredes, Gonzalo Montiel and Rodrigo De Paul.
Argentina would not be able to score an equalizer and Ecuador would get the 1-0 win.
Nicolás Otamendi's red card for Argentina and he will miss Argentina's first match at the World Cup. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/lZ9BQXPyUW
Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has announced the starting eleven for Argentina against Ecuador in the World Cup qualifiers and Lautaro Martinez starts as Franco Mastantuono will wear the number 10 shirt.
Lionel Scaloni has made several changes to the team which started the 3-0 win against Venezuela. Leonardo Balerdi comes in for the suspended Cristian Romero, Gonzalo Montiel in for Nahuel Molina, Alexis Mac Allister for Thiago Almada, Nicolás González for Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone for Lionel Messi. Here is the starting eleven:
Emiliano Martínez; Montiel, Balerdi, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Alexis Mac Allister; Simeone, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás González
