The Albiceleste (the nickname of the Argentine national team) solved the problem of reaching the quarterfinals (each of the two best teams of four quartets arrive there) in the last round, defeating Chile (1-0). The match against Peru was more of a test of strength. It so happened that Argentina had to do without its coach Lionel Scaloni and captain Lionel Messi.
The reason for Scaloni’s omission can be described as curious. The specialist managed to arrive late to the second half of the match against Chile. But a curiosity is a curiosity, and the regulations of the South American Football Confederation are very strict: all participants in the match had to be on the field before the start of the second half. For arriving late, Lionel Scaloni, firstly, paid a fine of 15 thousand dollars and, secondly, received disqualification from the match.
Messi’s absence was explained in a much more prosaic way. The 37-year-old Leo suffered a muscle injury in the same match against Chile, but remained on the pitch until the final whistle. “I’ve had a sore throat and a high fever for a couple of days, maybe that also had an influence,” Messi himself complained later.
The headquarters of the Argentine team says that everything will be fine. “He was with us in the locker room,” said Argentine coach Walter Samuel. “And we noticed that he was better. The situation is improving. Anyway, there is still time until the quarterfinals, so there is no point in doing it. any forecast. “We continue to monitor Leo’s condition, we communicate with the doctors.”
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score together for the first time in the group stage of a major tournament. Thus an era passes
By missing the match against Peru, Messi missed the chance to continue his remarkable run of form. Since 2010, Leo has regularly scored in the group stages of every major tournament he has participated in. And one more interesting fact: For the first time, Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo have both failed to score in the group stages of a major tournament. Apparently, this is how a great era goes by.
In Leo’s absence, the leader’s banner was picked up by Inter Milan forward, Lautaro Martínez. In fact, his double gave the Argentine team the victory. In total, the forward has four goals in three games. Not bad, considering that in the triumphant 2022 World Cup for the Albiceleste, Lautaro never managed to hit the rival goal.
“I’m glad,” the forward himself admitted. – I managed to score in all three group stage games and help my team reach the Copa América playoffs. This is the main thing now. After the game against Chile I already said it was fine. I had a great season at Inter and I felt prepared to get rid of that 2022 World Cup thorn. For me it was very important to prepare for the Copa América. I achieved it and now I am showing it on the field. But there is still a lot of work ahead.
By the way, in group “A” we can talk about sensation. Along with Argentina, the Canadian team reached the playoffs, leaving Peru and Chile behind.
The surprise in this case is very conditional, though. The strong generation of Chileans with Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and others has almost disappeared, and new stars of comparable calibre have not yet appeared in the national team. As a result, Chile is out of the Copa America playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
But the Canadians, who made their debut in the Kop, have recently shown quite a dynamic development, gradually showing us that they are not only a force in ice hockey. Take the 2022 World Cup itself. Yes, the Americans failed to advance from the group, but they showed some very nice football.
