The impressive Chinese devotion to Messi and Argentina He found his well-deserved prize. Not only because of the show that Leo gave with his free throws in the previous warm-up, but also because there was one of those in the game magic tricks of 10… It happened in the 2-0 draw against Australia, in the friendly Challenge Cup in Beijing.
Argentina began to beat the same rival that they had eliminated in the round of 16 of Qatar 2022 very early on. Messi took out of the galley his fastest goal in the National Team. She yelled it out when they had barely quarreled one minute and 19 seconds of game. After a clearance with a short and precise pass from Enzo Fernández, Leo appeared near the croissant to feint, hook and take out a left-footed shot that went in at mid-height, next to a post. Typical goal of the phenomenon.
messi and argentina They started playing like what they are, like world champions, voraciously, with pressure, seriously, forcefully. It was an initial quarter of an hour where Alexis Mac Allister and again Messi were close to scoring.
With the vast majority of Headlines that started in the final of the world, without Lautaro Martínez and with Julián Álvarez on the bench, Lionel Scaloni played without a center forward. The space of 9 was occupied by Messi when he was closing, Mac Allister when he was ahead or Di María and Nico González when he was testing diagonals.
Perhaps because of the advantage achieved, perhaps because of the elevated temperature, Argentina slowed down after the opening 20 minutes and Australia slowly grew. There was room, for example, to observe Dibu Martínez in action, that goalkeeper with a special magnetism, who drowned out Mitchell Duke’s equalizer with the help of a stick.
DATA SHEET
ARGENTINA
23 Emiliano Martinez; 26 Nahuel Molina, 13 Cristian Romero, 19 Nicolás Otamendi, 8 Marcos Acuña; 7 Rodrigo De Paul, 24 Enzo Fernandez, 20 Alexis Mac Allister; 11 Angel Di Maria, 10 Lionel Messi, 15 Nicolás González
Substitutions: 45′ G. Pezzella for N. Otamendi; 58′ J. Alvarez by A. MacAllister; 58′ G.Lo Celso by A.Di Maria; 73′ A. Garnacho by N. Gonzalez; 73′ L. Paredes by E. Fernandez; 78′ G. Rodriguez by R.de Paul.
Coach: Lionel Scaloni
AUSTRALIA
1 Matthew Ryan; 3 Nathaniel Atkinson, 19 Harry Souttar,
4 Kye Rowles, 5 Jordan Bos; 6 Aiden O’Neill, 7 Mathew Leckie, 20 Keanu Baccus, 14 Riley McGree; 9 Jamie MacLaren and 15 Mitchell Duke
Substitutions: 45′ A. Hrustic by J. Maclaren; 62′ B. Borrello by M. Duke; 62′ D. Genreau by A. ONeill; 72′ R. Strain by N. Atkinson; 72′ C. Metcalfe for R. McGree; 72′ A. Robertson by M. Leckie.
Coach: Graham Arnold
goals: 0-1, Messi (1′); 0-2, Pezzella (68′)
Field: Workers Stadium, Beijing.
Referee: Ningma (China). TA to N. Atkinson.
Then, as supposed, came the changes. Julián Álvarez entered. And the new albiceleste illusion, Alejandro Garnacho, made his debut in the Senior Selection. Germán Pezzella also entered, who sealed the victory with a header after a corner kick and a touching between Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.
Without shining, it was a good victory for Argentina, which allows you to continue without relaxing after having achieved the maximum. And it was a good day for Messi, who once again certified his fantastic albiceleste moment. It will be necessary to see until when Leo will continue enjoying with the Selection. For now, after the victory, he repeated that he doesn’t know until when and insisted on highlighting one word: “Enjoy.” He did it against Australia. And they enjoyed it in Beijing.
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Now, on Monday, Argentina will face Indonesia in Jakarta, to close this FIFA date. There Messi will not be. There the world champion will make some changes, always trying to keep this serious, forceful and winning line.
