Argentina have barely managed to squeeze through to the Copa America quarter-finals following a 2-0 victory over Qatar on Sunday night in Group B. That result, coupled with Colombia's 1-0 victory over Paraguay, allowed Argentina to finish second in the group table and set up a quarter-final meeting with Venezuela on Friday. Venezuela finished second in Group A behind host nation Brazil after having recorded goalless draws against Peru and Brazil and a 3-1 victory over Bolivia. Argentina, on the other hand, got beaten 2-0 by Colombia and recorded a 1-1 draw against Paraguay before the decisive win over Qatar.
The match against Qatar was not easy at all for the Argentinians, even though they got ahead after just three minutes thanks to a goal from Lautaro Martinez. Qatar had a few counter-attack raids while Argentinian super stars Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero missed great chances to score. In the end Manchester City striker Aguero netted the 2-0 goal with 15 minutes left in the game, allowing the Argentinian fans to breathe a sigh of relief. Messi and company will face Venezuela at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, whose contract runs out at the end of the competition, declared himself satisfied at the end of the match: "We have things to improve but we are satisfied. We needed a game like that to gain confidence. Especially in the second half, we played without fear. We will have to adjust some things against other types of opponents." This is the first managerial job for Scaloni, who previously served as an assistant to head coach Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla and at the national team.
He was heavily criticized by the media after Argentina's first two matches at the 2019 Copa America, but he played down the impact that those considerations had on him: "I never think of myself. I always think of the national team. I would like the message to be different, to be balanced at the end of the tournament. Everything surrounding the national team should be more balanced. Sometimes, these guys go out to play a soccer game and they seem to go out and play a war. With the pressure on them sometimes it is difficult to play. The message should be that while playing in the Copa America we are all on the same side."
Argentina have not won the Copa America since 1993 and now they are 11/2 at Bet365 to win it in 2019.
Your feedback
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.
