Argentina 1-0 Chile
Many of Argentina’s football betting fans were surely holding their breaths when their No10 placed the ball in front of Claudio Bravo for the penalty. The last time these two met on the international stage, the then favourites of many betting websites suffered a crushing defeat in the 2016 Copa America final. Maybe even the magician himself was nervous.
The World Cup qualifier didn’t start ideally for the Albiceleste as an early cross from Alexis Sanchez to Jose Fuenzalida ended up in a goal. The goal surely sent many of Argentina’s live betting fans in a cold sweat. Unfortunately for La Roja, the goal was justly disallowed by the linesman.
After the disallowed goal, Messi and co mounted an offensive, with a wild attempt by Gonzalo Higuain a perfect metaphor to the early frustrations of the squad and their fans.
An opportunity came to them soon enough: Fuenzalida made the terrible mistake of fouling Angel Di Maria in the penalty boxing, causing the hosts to get a spot kick and Chile’s No6 to get an early booking.
Messi then took the penalty for his nation. The Barcelona star was concentrating hard as he made his approach to the ball. He struck to the right; Manchester City’s Bravo went for left. The captain’s nightmarish spot-kick last year was exorcised as he celebrated with the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti crowd.
While the game ended with a low 1-0 score, the game was anything but a slow game. Nicolas Otamendi nearly doubled Argentina’s lead but he skied his attempt in front of goal. Sanchez almost equalised the game with his free-kick attempt; the crossbar, however, had other ideas. Four more players got carded like Fuenzalida.
With this result, the current World No1 leapfrog Chile and Colombia to third place. With their next fixture a winnable game against the inconsistent Bolivia, Argentina have a chance of securing their spot to the World Cup final. Meanwhile, Chileneed to soundly beat Venezuela to keep the surrounding nations off their backs.
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