World champions Argentina opened their bid for back-to-back Copa America titles with a 2-0 win over Canada in front of a crowd of 70,564 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday.
Julian Alvarez put Argentina ahead in the 49th minute but a
combination of inspired goalkeeping from Canada’s Max Crepeau and Lionel
Messi’s surprising lack of precision in front of goal ensured that the
underdogs were in the game until Lautaro Martinez settled the contest in the
88th minute.
Backed by a huge support decked out in light blue and white
striped shirts, Argentina fully deserved their victory but Canada, ranked 48th
in the world, can take plenty of credit for the way they fought with the
15-time Copa America winners.
Alvarez, preferred to Lautaro as Messi’s strike partner in
attack, had the first opportunity when he charged down an attempted clearance
from Ismael Kone and broke away.
But the Manchester City striker took a heavy touch as he
bore down on Canada keeper Max Crepeau, who was able to smother the ball.
Messi, who became the most capped player in Copa America
history, making his 35th appearance in what is his seventh tournament, then
went close to an opener himself but his angled shot from the left flashed just
wide of the far post.
While the Argentines were exploiting gaps in the Canadian
defence, Jesse Marsch’s team were nonetheless competing in midfield and
creating some half-chances for themselves.
Alphonso Davies and Liam Millar both had shots blocked
inside the box and Tajon Buchanan screwed an effort from a tight angle wide in
the 30th minute.
The first true save of the game came in the 40th minute,
though, when Alexis Mac Allister’s stooping header from an Angel Di Maria cross
was well dealt with by Crepeau.
But Argentina needed their goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, to
be at his very best to ensure they went in on level terms at the interval.
Cyle Larin’s cross from the right wing was met with a
powerful header from close-range from Stephen Eustaquio but Martinez’s sharp
reaction save kept the game goalless.
Break Deadlock
But it took less than four minutes of the second half for
Argentina to break the deadlock — Messi threaded a pass through to Mac
Allister, who was brought down by Crepeau, but before the referee could blow
his whistle Alvarez had slotted home the loose ball.
Within moments, there was another chance for Alvarez, but
this time denied by the diving Crepeau and Canada could live to fight on.
They did so with more urgency and a little more risk after
Marsch introduced winger Jacob Shaffelburg and switched to an attacking 4-3-3
formation.
Suddenly the Argentine defence was under pressure and didn’t
look at all comfortable as Canada got men forward and exploited the wide areas.
But they were almost caught out with a classic
counter-attack as Martinez launched a quick long ball towards Messi, who broke
way goalwards but with the crowd expecting to see the eight-time Ballon d’Or
winner on target he made a hash of the chance.
His initial effort was parried by Crepeau and although Messi
latched on to the loose ball and sought to go round the keeper, his shot was
easily cleared by the covering Derek Cornelius.
Incredibly there was another great opportunity for the
former Barcelona star to find the target and again he was unable to convert —
cutting in from the right with only Crepeau to beat, Messi opened up his body
but slid his shot wide of the post.
Crepeau was at his best again to keep out substitute Lautaro
as Argentina struggled to put the game to bed but with two minutes of normal
time remaining they did just that.
Messi produced another clinical, defence-splitting pass and
this time Lautaro made no mistake, slipping past the advancing Crepeau to make
it 2-0.
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni was pleased with his team’s
spirit but upset with the temporary grass surface placed on top of Atlanta’s
artificial pitch.
“We had to dig in and close out the game, which is what it’s
all about in the end,” he said.
“Sometime you can’t play your game, as I always say, there
are times when the opponent won’t let you. In this case it was the opponent and
the pitch. We had to play differently and the important thing is that we won,”
he said.
Marsch was pleased with his team’s willingness to go
toe-to-toe with the world’s best.
“We played fearlessly. I think we learnt a lot from it —
mostly that we can play with these dudes,” he said.
AFP
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