Argentina showed its competitive voracity without missing Messi and Di Maria

Argentina consolidated its position as leader of the South American Qualifiers to the World Cup with a resounding 3-0 victory over Chile, they passed the test of playing without the injured Lionel Messi and Ángel di María, retired from the national team, and warned their rivals that their hunger for victory is far from being satisfied.

The world champion was superior from start to finish, suffocating Chile with intense and constant pressure –that is how the three goals were born-, and After a first half in which they were unable to find the goal, He unlocked the match with a hat-trick in which he showed differences in hierarchy and an ambition to compete that spreads from the big names to the new figures.

In the absence of Messi, Paulo Dybala wore the heavy “10” shirt in the final minutes, and the skilful Roma playmaker only needed that moment to make his mark with the third goal for the Albiceleste, a powerful shot after receiving an assist from Alejandro Garnacho, the Manchester United jewel who is also looking for his place.

“Paulo and I didn’t talk about giving him the number 10, we decided to give it to him. We didn’t tell him ‘you’re going to wear number 10’, I think he’s a footballer who deserves to have number 10,” said coach Lionel Scaloni about the emblematic number that Messi usually wears, and which this time was used by the skillful Dybala.

What happened with Dybala reflects the competitive desire of an abundant squadwhich everyone wants to be a part of, and everyone is clear that they must push themselves to the limit to be on Scaloni’s payroll, the first to insist at every opportunity that it is forbidden to relax and rest on everything that has already been achieved.

This vocation is also evident despite the absence of Messi, injured in the Copa America final in the United States, and Di María, who enjoyed an unforgettable night with a massive tribute. after signing his retirement from the national team in style, after having overcome difficult times, when success eluded the Albiceleste.

In the absence of Di Maria and Messi “what counts is the team, “He must know how to unite forces,” explained Rodrigo de Paul, another historic figure in the Scaloni cycle.

The individual hierarchy is added to the capacity for sacrifice and variants, such as the use of a ‘double 9’, with two forwards like Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez who know how to complement each other and not overlap in the middle of the area.

“We fuel ourselves through competition. It’s not very difficult to make the players understand that they have to compete, because if not, another player will come to take their place (…) They understood the message and continue competing.“, Scaloni assessed.

Scaloni, in addition to being rigorous in demanding constant demand, He also began to think that Messi might not make it to the next World Cup, and that is why he has called up youngsters such as Garnacho, Valentín Barco (Sevilla), Giuliano Simeone (Atlético de Madrid), Matías Soulé (Roma) and Valentín Carboni (Olympique Marseille) as variables for the future.

Even though there are still almost two years to go until the next World Cup, Argentina showed Chile its ability to reinvent itself without two of the stars who shone during their most successful period, crowned with the conquest of the World Cup in Qatar-2022, and the conviction of having a marked path towards more successes from which they do not want to deviate even an inch.

In additionthe victory confirmed the remarkable dominance of the current world champion in the qualifiers, where they remain at the top with 18 points.