There is a characteristic as important as technical/tactical quality that, at any sporting level, can make a difference: the trust. And this Sunday, in a context of parity like the one Ecuador I proposed to the Argentina In the friendly in Chicago, a well-executed decision can tip the balance to one side. Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romeroone of the best defenders in the Premier League, demonstrated his enormous versatility to anticipate as a central marker, attack a space as if he were an attacking midfielder, pivot like a center forward and assist like a hook from the 80s to Angel Di Mariawho scored the goal of the fair victory of the Albiceleste in the penultimate friendly before starting the defense of the America Cup.
It was difficult for the National Team to resolve Ecuador’s intensity in the first 35 minutes. He gives the impression that he is adapting to what the game demands, without suffering in his own goal, without being overwhelming in his control, but carrying the weight. The thing is that, Scaloni warned, it will be increasingly difficult for Argentina given the knowledge that rivals are having of their formulas. In Chicago, the Spanish Félix Sánchez wanted to press with a lot of people, equal in number of players, to avoid the Albiceleste’s inside game.
There, the world champion ‘Gringo’ had once again trusted the triangle at the beginning of his cycle (Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul and Gio Lo Celso), with Julián Álvarez – the one who came in for Lionel Messi as a starter – as the average tip. The team was very fragmented and did not want to abuse jumping lines with long balls. Just a shot from Di María, after a recovery from Lo Celso, and a half turn from Lisandro Martínez that the Huracán goalkeeper took spectacularly Hernan Galindez It was the most dangerous thing about the National Team.
Until that barbaric triangulation arrived that De Paul started with a three-finger pass, he continued with the movement of Cuti from Cordoba and the control plus definition in the Brazilian style of Romario de Di María. The intervention of the Tottenham defender was so outstanding that he even got laughter and applause from the best in history on the substitute bench, where he had already put on his sweatshirt due to the temperature that had dropped a few degrees with the setting of the sun.
Immediately, ‘Fideo’ put chalk on the left boot to, in Messi’s absence, score a beautiful free kick that hit the crossbar and made the more than 51,000 people who gathered at the Soldier Field stadium exclaim.
These friendlies, so close to the start of a competition as important as the Copa América, are difficult to digest in terms of analysis, so we must stick with those isolated situations well resolved by the National Team. That was much more marked in the second half, where Scaloni began to move the substitute bench, with Lionel Messi included.
La Pulga was the first replacement for the Albiceleste, along with Enzo Fernández, but it was difficult for him to get into rhythm. He showed his sparks, like the two passes he gave to the Chelsea midfielder who underwent surgery for an inguinal hernia a month ago. In the first, the native of San Martín stopped it with his right entering from the left and then Galíndez anticipated it right on the edge of the area.
Messi is warming up and readjusting to the rhythm of the national teams. It is known, the demand in the MLS is different. Neither better nor worse, different. And the game forces him to solve as quickly as his head dictates and his body responds. Those first two passes delivered to rivals later changed due to his electric starts.
The Selection did not suffer. Not even when Scaloni changed the drawing to look for the counterattack with the speed of Nico González and Ángel Correa. Not even when Licha Martínez had her only two errors in handling the ball, which Cuti Romero and Dibu Martínez saved with their providential closures.
Argentina passed the tough test that Ecuador could represent. He will have his last test on Friday against Guatemala and Lionel Scaloni will then give the final list of 26 summoned. Then, the moment of truth will arrive in the Copa América.
