The Argentine national team played a lackluster Kopa quarter-final against the daring Ecuador and it went to a penalty shoot-out. At the same time, the Valencian team played noticeably better.
Against Peru in the third match of the group stage, Scaloni made a wide rotation: Acuña, Mac Allister, Molina, De Paul, Álvarez and Messi did not play at all. The first and the second to last did not find a place in the starting line-up and now Tagliafico and Lautaro are too good at El Cobre. But one thing is to face Canada, Chile and Peru, who have one objective between them, and another is to face Ecuador. He has scored four goals and several stars in the squad: Incapie, Caicedo, Valencia. Estupiñan could also be on the list, as an injury prevented him from being called up to the national team.
It was the Ecuadorians who came closest to success in the opening minutes. Valencia broke away from the defenders and struck low: Martinez took the ball. I checked the goalkeeper and Sarmiento. It was simply an attempted shot, because then a real goal-scoring opportunity arose with the participation of these very players: the former West Ham striker ran down the wing and crossed to his Brighton teammate, who turned Romero (then Christian simply threw his hands out) and tried to pass the ball past Martinez – he saved it wonderfully with his foot.
What about Argentina? Enzo only has a couple of episodes to highlight: an inaccurate header and a pass followed by a shot blocked by Pacho. In the 35th minute, the question was going around in my head: do the world champions really play in blue and white shirts? It soon became clear that yes. Nothing foreshadowed the Argentines’ goal, but it happened: Messi took a corner from the right, Mac Allister won a high-flying fight at the near post and headed the ball past Martinez – Lisandro headed in from a couple of meters and showed his namesake Lautaro that they have a name for scoring.
Argentine footballers celebrate a goal against Ecuador
Photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images
Without much effort, the favourites caught fire at the right moment. So much for the mentality of world champions. And here Valencia almost helped: he cut down Mac Allister in the middle of the field, received a yellow card and did not calm down, shortly afterward elbowing De Paul in the neck. Enner already received a straight red card in the first round of the group stage. Apparently it is not enough for him. He was lucky that the Uruguayan referee Matonte forgave him in the second case.
Finally, in the first half, Lautaro also missed from a lethal position. After the missed goal, Ecuador was clearly depressed. But even so, Argentina did not gain an advantage in expected goals: 0.49 xG versus 0.58.
In the second half of the match, the Ecuadorians came alive and won several corners. One of them cost them an 11-metre penalty for hitting the ball on De Paul’s outstretched hand after Franco’s shot. Valencia got close to the ball and fired into the bottom left corner. Martinez jumped in the opposite direction but was saved by the crossbar! If I were Amy Rebrov, I would have kissed her. The final touch also failed.
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Lautaro, who was not having his best game, was substituted for Alvarez in the 65th minute. For the first time in the current Kop, the Inter striker left the field without scoring. His Manchester City colleague, however, did not play any better. In regulation time there were simply no more scoring chances, only an exchange of fouls. Argentina did not force things and played to hold on. Caicedo received cards on one side, Gonzalez and Tagliafico on the other. As for fouls, the match was tied – 13:13. Typical Copa America.
In the final, Otamendi and Lo Celso received practice. And Messi had to work in defence behind his bodyguard friend De Paul. Because of the fierce competition in the centre, Rodrigo plays on the right flank for the national team. He is not perfect.
Those spectators who thought everything was decided and went to bed will probably regret it. Because in the 90+1 minute there was a great ending. Yeboah flicked the ball into the penalty area and Rodriguez successfully nodded it into the far corner. The referees watched the video replay for a long time because Jorge Caicedo, who was in an offside position, was reaching for the ball. And yet the goal was still counted.
Rodriguez celebrates goal against Argentina
Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Argentina tried to cling to the result and paid for it. Ecuador played no worse and reached the penalty shoot-out. Yes, there is no extra time in the Kop. Messi was the first to shoot and failed to convert the attempt, saluting Cristiano, who failed to get close to the point at the Euro! There was no point in playing and making a panenka in the centre: instead of a nice goal, the result was a shot off the crossbar. Martinez helped the captain by neutralising the attempts of Mena and Jorge Caicedo. Alvarez, Mac Allister, Otamendi and Montiel, who came on from penalties, did not fail and still led Argentina to the semi-finals.
There, Messi and Co. will be battling Venezuela or Canada. But now the Argentines no longer look like the undisputed favourites for Kopa. The reigning world champions (and, by the way, the Kops too) were only a few strokes away from the embarrassment of being eliminated in the quarter-finals. It turned out that a well-played, combative and even much less classy opponent could cause them a lot of problems.
Messi and Cristiano were compared in continental competitions. The fight turned out to be one-sided:
Messi is much better than Ronaldo. His performances on the Kop and at the Euros are incredibly different!
