Argentina 2-0 Canada
As expected, Argentina opened their Copa America title defence with a 2-0 victory over Canada at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, although most pundits feel that the score should’ve been higher for La Albiceleste if it weren’t for their shaky display at the start of the contest.
Lionel Scaloni’s men looked lax for the most part in the first half, but eventually they found their groove and scored twice in the second half through Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.
By drawing first blood, Argentina zoomed to the top of Group A with three points, while Canada found themselves at the bottom.
Both teams can take a lot of positives from this game, although the pressure is starting to mount on Canada since they need to have favourable Copa America 2024 results from here on out.
Highlights of the game
Lionel Scaloni made several changes to his lineup, as he brought back Marcos Acuna, Cristian Romero, Angel Di Maria, and Julian Alvarez to the starting XI.
Jesse Marsch, on the other hand, deployed the same starting XI that he had in their previous international friendly game, where they gave France all they could handle.
At the start of the game, Canada knew that Argentina would hold the ball, so they implemented a midblock to force Argentina to move the ball laterally. It created a few openings for Argentina, but they didn’t have the cutting edge in the final third.
Lionel Messi had the first real chance of the game when he raced out in transition, but his low drive went too wide to the right during the 10th minute. A few more missed chances from Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, and Alexis Mac Allister kept the first 45 minutes even in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Make no mistake about it, Canada had their chances in the first half as well.
During the 30th and 32nd minutes, the Maple Leafs broke through down the left side through Alphonso Davies, as Tajon Buchanan and Jonathan David had shots on target, but La Albiceleste did a great job at blocking shots in the box.
And then, right before halftime, Cyle Larin launched a great cross inside the box, which found Stephen Eustaquio for a header, but his attempt from close range was batted away by Emiliano Martinez.
Canada’s missed chances came back to haunt them, as Argentina scored the first goal of the contest.
Lionel Messi made the goal possible with his sublime pass through the defence for Alexis Mac Allister, who side-footed the ball to Julian Alvarez before he collided with Maxime Crepeau. With the Canadian goalie out of the picture, Alvarez tipped the ball into a virtually empty net.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner almost scored a goal of his own during the 65th minute. Maxime Crepeau dove for the ball, but Messi’s attempt off the rebound was blocked by Derek Cornelius. 14 minutes later, Messi attempted a chip shot over Crepeau, but the ball flew wide.
Argentina fans were worried when Lionel Messi was hit hard by a crunching tackle from Moise Bombito in the 82nd minute, but the Inter Miami star shook it off and managed to finish the game.
Lautaro Martinez came off the bench for Argentina and converted Lionel Messi’s beautiful through ball in the 88th minute to double their advantage and secure the win.
Key statistics
Save for their lacklustre start, Argentina dominated Canada in total shots (19 to 10), shots on target (9 to 2), possession (65-per cent to 35-per cent), and total passes (606 to 328).
Last night was Lionel Messi’s 35th match in the Copa America, a new tournament record, as the Inter Miami forward now has one more than Chile’s Sergio Livingstone from 1941 to 1953.
Lionel Messi’s assist to Lautaro Martinez during the 88th minute was his 18th in the tournament, extending his own record in the continental competition.
With 25 goals under his belt, Lautaro Martinez claimed the solo eighth spot in Argentina’s all-time scoring list, leapfrogging Luis Artime (24).
Yesterday also marked Canada’s Copa America debut and first competitive match under Jesse March, who was hired in May.
What’s next?
Argentina’s next assignment is Chile on Tuesday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, while Canada will take on Peru on the same day at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
While both teams will recharge their batteries after a hard-fought contest, they will be watching the game between Peru and Chile tomorrow, where the latter is favoured to win by the SBOTOP Copa America 2024 odds.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
