No Messi, no problem.
Argentina cruised to the Copa America quarterfinals as Group A winners with an impressive record: three games, three wins, nine points, five goals scored and none conceded.
Their talisman Messi played no part owing to an upper leg injury, coach Lionel Scaloni watched from the stands as he served a one-match ban and Argentina made nine changes from the side which beat Chile 2-0 on Tuesday.
But no matter. Lautaro Martinez scored twice and is the leading goalscorer at the competition with four in three games.
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Lautaro Martinez, Copa America’s leading goalscorer
An enduring memory of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 concerns the travails of Lautaro Martinez, who started the tournament as Argentina’s No. 9 but was dropped to the bench in favour of Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez for the third group-stage game and did not get back into the starting line-up. During the entire tournament in Qatar, Martinez did not score a goal.
This, therefore, has proved to be a redemptive tournament for him. He has now scored in all three group games and led the line with authority here, taking his chance to round Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and score when it came along. And then double his tally later on.
(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
This was the first match Martinez has started in this tournament but he is the top scorer in the competition, after coming off the bench to round off the 2-0 win over Canada and then nicking the winner against Chile late on.
Alvarez, of course, opened the scoring against Canada, so he has made a reasonable start to the competition. But has Martinez, who scored 27 goals for Italian club Inter Milan last season, provided food for thought as Scaloni considers his options for the knockout rounds? He has scored nine goals in 13 Copa America career matches, after all.
Adam Crafton
Did Argentina miss Messi?
Tonight was an example of the quality and depth of this Argentina side. It’s an experienced team that will have to get younger after this tournament but on Saturday night Argentina’s rotated starting XI got the job done. It says everything about Argentina’s star quality when Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez is given an opportunity in a match in which Argentina are already qualified. Gonzalo Montiel, the hero of the World Cup final, slotted in at right fullback for Nahuel Molina.
Argentina’s midfield was impressive, as well. Bayer Leverkusen’s Exequiel Palacios started alongside Leandro Paredes and Gio Lo Celso. The backline featured veterans German Pezzella and Nicolas Otamendi, and Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho was given his first start of the tournament. With Messi watching in his sneakers, Angel Di Maria wore the captain’s armband.
Messi on the bench (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Messi is always missed. He can still create moments of magic and he preoccupies the minds of the opposing defenders. But Di Maria assisted Martinez with a wonderful first-time pass and then set up Argentina’s penalty, even if Paredes hit the post.
Felipe Cardenas
How did Argentina manage without Scaloni?
Many remember Walter Samuel for his 20-year career as a player, in which he was considered one of the world’s best central defenders. As a defender with Inter Milan, Samuel was nicknamed Il Muro, The Wall, as an impassable defender for the treble-winning Nerazzurri in 2010. Curiously, he debuted at Newell’s Old Boys as Walter Lujan, but he later took the surname of his stepfather. His resumé also includes stops at Boca Juniors and Real Madrid.
Samuel has been an assistant with Argentina since 2018 and has since become one of Scaloni’s most trusted allies. Along with former Argentina internationals Pablo Aimar and Roberto Ayala, Samuel is part of a braintrust that has become among the most respected in South America. Saturday night’s clash against Peru was Samuel’s second stint as an interim manager for Scaloni.
In January of 2022, Scaloni had to miss a World Cup qualifier against Chile due to a positive Covid-19 test. Samuel stepped in and guided Argentina to a 2-1 win.
Samuel told reporters on Friday that Scaloni would set up the team, but Samuel was active on the touchline. The timing of his substitutions kept Argentina dominant on the night.
Felipe Cardenas
Did Manchester United’s Garnacho take his chance?
It was always going to be fascinating to see how Garnacho, increasingly the attacking pacesetter of Manchester United’s attack, adapted into an environment where he is surrounded by far more experience and arguably significantly less reliance.
Garnacho only turns 20 years old on Monday and the speed at which United have become dependent on him says as much about his own talent as it does the underperformance of colleagues including Marcus Rashford and Antony.
He did not get onto the field for Argentina’s victories over Canada or Chile but here he started in a front line that included a combined 200+ caps in Angel Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez. As such, the dynamic of Garnacho’s role, as a promising upstart rather than a go-to man, is extremely different to life at United, where he recently scored in the FA Cup final win over Manchester City.
(David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
On this occasion, Garnacho was neat and tidy enough in possession and showed an occasional glimpse of his talent, but with his only real sight of goal he bent a strike over as he sought to pick out the far right corner. He took some rough treatment from Peru defenders, particularly early in the first half, yet — as ever — Garnacho was not deterred by the brutality and kept persisting.
Watching Garnacho, a player who likes to use the full length and width of the pitch to stretch the play and run in behind, is he the kind of player who might be handicapped by the tight dimensions being used during this summer’s Copa?
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This appearance also demonstrated once more that his game requires development when he needs to break down a deep-sitting defence. He lasted 65 minutes and is likely to be used as an impact substitute moving forwards.
Adam Crafton
What’s next for Argentina?
The defending champions move on to Houston and a quarterfinal against the runner up in Group B — likely Mexico or Ecuador — at NRG Stadium on July 4 at 9:00p.m. ET.
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Required reading:
(Top photo: Chris Arjoon/AFP via Getty Images)
