With the first post-WC break here, I thought it would be good to have a catch-all International Football thread until more specific ones created. I missed a lot of the good matches in the past couple of days, but any reports would be welcome.
I just finished Argentina-Guatemala and it was a very encouraging performance from a totally revamped Argentina side. After the WC debacle, Lionel Scaloni was tasked with taking the U20 side to the WC. Although reports indicated it wasn't pretty, they won the tournament and Scaloni was named interim manager of the senior side. Also of note, his main assistant is fan-favorite Pablo Aimar.
Argentina started in a 4-3-3 with Simeone (Diego's son) up top, flanked by Boca's Pavon and River's Martinez. Lo Celso headlined the MF along with Paredes and Palacios. In the back, Tagliafico took the captain's armband, the CBs were Funes Mori and Pezzella, and Saravia as a late call-up due to injuries to Mercado and Salvio. Geronimo Rulli also got the start many were clamoring for before the WC.
Getting it out of the way, Guatemala is a pretty weak side. But AFA as an organization and the team needed to bounce back after all the summer's multiple fiascos. The headline for this match is about the team generally--this young side was playing aggressive attacking football with skill and flair while maintaining good defensive shape with frequent high pressure. There was a sense of urgency, these guys gave a shit, they played cohesively, and there was a clear plan on both offense and defense.
However, two players stood out above a terrific team-wide performance. Lo Celso played the entire match and was in control throughout. He sat in the middle and orchestrated effective attacking the entire time. He showed sublime control and aggressiveness and had a screamer of a goal on top of it all. The other player that was exceptional was Martinez. He was deft and clever on the ball and got out of some very tight spaces in the MF, going forward no less! He also scored the opener on a pen that he absolutely smoked. Move over Messi! Simeone had a nice finish off a successful press, but otherwise was struggling to finish attacks and combine effectively. Pavon showed a lot of skill on the ball, but was also impatient throughout the first half with lots of overzealous missed passes. I liked Paredes and the other MF generally. The defense showed pretty good ball skills and weren't tested much.
Argentina go up against a much stronger Colombia side on Tuesday. Colombia beat Venezuela earlier this week. I don't know whether to expect Icardi or Dybala to play. I want to see Correa and Meza get into that match too. Would really like to see Lo Celso with all of those guys, but 2 full matches in under a week is unlikely. Maybe 20-45 on Tuesday?
I just finished Argentina-Guatemala and it was a very encouraging performance from a totally revamped Argentina side. After the WC debacle, Lionel Scaloni was tasked with taking the U20 side to the WC. Although reports indicated it wasn't pretty, they won the tournament and Scaloni was named interim manager of the senior side. Also of note, his main assistant is fan-favorite Pablo Aimar.
Argentina started in a 4-3-3 with Simeone (Diego's son) up top, flanked by Boca's Pavon and River's Martinez. Lo Celso headlined the MF along with Paredes and Palacios. In the back, Tagliafico took the captain's armband, the CBs were Funes Mori and Pezzella, and Saravia as a late call-up due to injuries to Mercado and Salvio. Geronimo Rulli also got the start many were clamoring for before the WC.
Getting it out of the way, Guatemala is a pretty weak side. But AFA as an organization and the team needed to bounce back after all the summer's multiple fiascos. The headline for this match is about the team generally--this young side was playing aggressive attacking football with skill and flair while maintaining good defensive shape with frequent high pressure. There was a sense of urgency, these guys gave a shit, they played cohesively, and there was a clear plan on both offense and defense.
However, two players stood out above a terrific team-wide performance. Lo Celso played the entire match and was in control throughout. He sat in the middle and orchestrated effective attacking the entire time. He showed sublime control and aggressiveness and had a screamer of a goal on top of it all. The other player that was exceptional was Martinez. He was deft and clever on the ball and got out of some very tight spaces in the MF, going forward no less! He also scored the opener on a pen that he absolutely smoked. Move over Messi! Simeone had a nice finish off a successful press, but otherwise was struggling to finish attacks and combine effectively. Pavon showed a lot of skill on the ball, but was also impatient throughout the first half with lots of overzealous missed passes. I liked Paredes and the other MF generally. The defense showed pretty good ball skills and weren't tested much.
Argentina go up against a much stronger Colombia side on Tuesday. Colombia beat Venezuela earlier this week. I don't know whether to expect Icardi or Dybala to play. I want to see Correa and Meza get into that match too. Would really like to see Lo Celso with all of those guys, but 2 full matches in under a week is unlikely. Maybe 20-45 on Tuesday?