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On this day in 1978, Argentina won the FIFA World Cup

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On this day in 1978, Argentina went on to win their first ever FIFA World Cup.

It was a tournament filled with controversy but the final saw hosts Argentina vs. Netherlands in the final at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. It was the Dutch’s second consecutive final after having lost in the final to Germany four years prior.

Daniel Passarella was the captain of the team and lifted the trophy but it was Mario Kempes pulling the strings and scoring the goals up front. With the score 0-0, Mario Kempes would receive the ball on the edge of the penalty area and drag it forward before rolling it passed the goalkeeper and giving his country the 1-0 lead in the World Cup final.

Just eight minutes from time, Nanninga would draw the Netherlands level, scoring a header from inside the penalty area to take the match to extra time. The additional 30 minutes would see two more goals, both scored by Argentina.

Mario Kempes would be the star man once more. A great individual goal as he would skip passed the Dutch back line and while his initial shot was saved, Kempes would score the rebound to once more give Argentina the lead.

From there, Daniel Bertoni would double score Argentina’s third of the match following what was possibly a lucky one-two inside the penalty area.

Argentina would lift the trophy for the first time, the only time on home soil with Mario Kempes finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals.

Exequiel Palacios fit, everyone available for Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has everyone fully fit for Monday’s match vs. Bolivia at the Copa America.

In addition to Nicolas Gonzalez and Gio Lo Celso being back with the team, Scaloni received some good news as Palacios trained with the rest of the squad. This means that Scaloni has everyone available.

When speaking to the media following the team’s 1-0 win vs. Paraguay, Scaloni stated that he would rotate the squad for the next match. Some of the names likely to be rotated are the six that are on yellow cards. Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Gio Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Martinez are the six that are one yellow card away from missing the next match.

While the cards are erased after the quarter finals, a yellow for any of them vs. Bolivia would mean that they would miss the quarter final match. However, Lautaro could benefit from a goal vs. Bolivia to get him back in scoring form. It remains to be seen who Scaloni will be resting.

Nicolás Capaldo out of Argentina U23 team for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

Nicolás Capaldo is out of the Olympics for Argentina as his club will not allow him to participate.

Capaldo recently joined Red Bull Salzburg from Boca Juniors on a multi-year deal. However, having just been presented as a player and taken part in his first training session with the club, it was announced that the 22 year old will not be flying to Tokyo for the Olympics.

With preparation for the Olympics already underway, the announcement was made by the Argentina account stating that the club will not release him.

Argentina training news ahead of Bolivia match on Monday, Exequiel Palacios not fit

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni had everyone training together except for one.

Nicolas Gonzalez and Gio Lo Celso are back training with the team after both missed the team’s 1-0 win vs. Uruguay. The only one that did not train with the group is Exequiel Palacios as he’s still not fully fit.

As we reported on Wednesday, coach Scaloni is expected to make several changes for Monday’s Copa America match. Argentina have already secured qualification and six players are on yellow cards. The six players being Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Gio Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Paredes. A yellow for any one of them would mean they would miss the next match.

While the team has nearly a week’s time of rest, it remains to be seen if Scaloni will play Lionel Messi from the start or if he will keep him on the bench.

CONMEBOL publishes the VAR audios of Argentina’s disallowed goal vs. Paraguay

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On Tuesday, CONMEBOL uploaded on its official Youtube channel the conversation between the VAR referees regarding Argentina’s disallowed goal in the 1-0 win vs. Paraguay. The referee ended up giving offside for “interference in the goalkeeper’s vision” from Lionel Messi when Di María took the shot.

Here’s VAR’s revision on Argentina’s disallowed goal:

“The assistant correctly follows the protocol of delaying his decision, and when the play ends, he marks the offside for interfering with the opponent,” says the narrator. “The VAR analyzes with virtual lines the position and the impact that the striker causes to the goalkeeper and agrees with the referee’s decision: offside for interfering with the opponent.”

Here, the final decision reached among the VAR assistant that was communicated to the main referee:

“There is a clear offside. That player (Messi) is in the goalkeeper’s line of sight, makes a move, and delays the goalkeeper’s reaction.”