Although he was not a starter in the victory of Argentina 1-0 against Ecuadorthe public present at the Soldier Field Stadium burst with Lionel Messi. When he was named by the voice of the stadium, in the warm-up and later, at the dawn of the complement when he came in to replace Ángel Di María. The Chicago venue, which was shown with 60/70 percent of its capacity (61,500 people), vibrated with the entrance to the playing field of the best soccer player in the world, in a match that was Friction from the beginning with crossings and frictions.
But before he came on, Messi was seen very involved in the game. From his emotional singing of the National Anthem and then when he euphorically applauded the both of your friend’s high bills Angel Di Mariaafter an exquisite pass of Christian Romero. That was 40 minutes into the preparatory match for the America Cup which will take place in the United States from June 20 to July 14.
At 53 minutes, the coach Lionel Scaloni He called Leo to start his warm-up and two minutes later he was seen with a frantic movement on the line waiting for the start of Say Maria, who in addition to opening the scoring did a good job. Fideo announced his retirement from the national team after the Copa América.
As soon as he entered, the brushstrokes of the Rosario star who will turn 37 on June 24 were seen. His perfect passes gave the team more clarity and he suffered some fouls because the Ecuadorians wanted to cut and avoid in other cases the game circuits that were generated from the magic of Messi.
At 58 minutes, for example, he learned that Giovani Lo Celso He was on the right, but his pass was intercepted. Otherwise, the former Central Rosary he was alone in front of the archer Hernan Galindezwho was one of the figures of the Ecuadorian team.
At 69 minutes, Leo gave a beautiful pass to Lautaro Martínez, who was just anticipated by Galíndez, while at 81 minutes he attempted a self-pass. Two minutes later, Messi He licked his lips before a center that fell short and he was alone in front of the goal. Finally, at 94 minutes, he got angry with Nicolas Gonzalez because he didn’t give him the pass. The forward of the Fiorentina wanted to define above Galindezwho had another quick action to keep the ball.
In the end there was a scare when at 92 minutes, while the youth was being treated on the floor Kendry Paez, two young people invaded the playing field and went to look for a photo with Messi, but they were just blocked by other players. The security personnel immediately entered and took the boys away, in a common scene at every Leo game. This also happens in the Inter Miami where it is played in a setting with less rigor for the public and without bars or wire fences in the venues.
Although the one who took the maximum trophy was himself Paezwho at the end of the meeting He looked for Messi and he was able to exchange his shirt. The Argentine star immediately agreed to the request of the 17-year-old offensive midfielder, who has many conditions and at the beginning of the match he hit Rodrigo DePaul. Kendry plays in the Independiente del Valle and will face Boca Juniors in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana.
