With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, Argentina faced Mexico in a clash that would pit FC Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Rafa Marquez against each other. In this match, Argentine coach Diego Maradona reshuffled his lineup leaving both Juan Veron and Jonás Gutiérrez on the bench and replacing them with Maxi Rodriguez and Nicolás Otamendi. Read on for a brief match summary. And be sure to give us your impressions of the game in the comments.
Argentina defeated Mexico 3-1 in a passionate encounter that was full of emotion, amazing football and refereeing controversy. The Mexicans were desperately unlucky not to score in the first 10 minutes, but it was Carlos Tevez who opened his account in the 26th minute off a pass by Messi. The fact that Tevez was literally a meter offside eluded the linesman and enraged the Mexicans. Gonzalo Higuain capitalized on the Mexican lack of composure, jumping on a wayward pass from Ricardo Osorio to double the lead in the 33rd minute. Early in the second half, Tevez added to the Mexican woe with an amazing shot from 25 meters to make it 3-0. Javier Hernandez, el Chicharito, restored some pride in the 71st minute, but the game ended on this 3-1 scoreline as the Argentines closed out the match with the introduction of Veron and Pastore, both impressive late in the game.FC Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi had a subdued game, often being double and triple teamed by Mexican defenders. And despite his 27 shots at the tournament so far, he has yet to score a goal. For his part, Barcelona central defender Rafa Marquez had a good game in his role as a defensive midfielder for the Mexicans, generally keeping Messi quiet and getting involved in the final third.
To look briefly at the big picture: Another success from Messi’s Argentina, although it must be said that Maradona’s squad dispatched the Mexicans more through individual brilliance rather than collective ability. Do they have what it will take to dispatch the Germans in the next round?
No comments:
Post a Comment