Argentina National Team: Big win, still not over worries!

(Baonghean.vn) - Finally, Argentina won, even won quite big against Colombia (3-0). The pressure was somewhat relieved for Messi and his teammates, Coach Bauza still temporarily kept his position, Albicelestes climbed to the top of the rankings. However, the anxiety was still intact.

Bright colors

Entering the match, Coach Bauza "boldly" made changes to the starting lineup. Players who played poorly in the defeat to Brazil a few days ago such as Zabaleta, Perez, Higuain were replaced by Mercado, Banega and Pratto. This decision of Coach Bauza brought more positive signs. It is not an exaggeration to say that the change of the 58-year-old strategist contributed to Argentina's victory over Colombia.

The clearest proof of coach Bauza's wisdom is striker Pratto. Not only did he score the goal that raised the score to 2-0 for Argentina, the player born in 1988 also contributed a lot to the team's overall playing style. Pratto's pressing, net-scoring, deep-lying moves to find the ball... broke the defensive system that Pekerman had set up for Colombia in this match.

Pratto's energetic work created a lot of space for Messi and Di Maria to easily approach the opponent's goal. The goal in the 23rd minute from Messi's assist was a worthy reward for Pratto's convincing performance.

In Argentina's victory, it is impossible not to mention the familiar name Messi. A classy free kick, two assists for Pratto and Di Maria to score enough to speak of Messi's excellence in the match against Colombia. Many times, the 29-year-old star made the audience at Bicentenario Stadium cheer with delight.

The most notable moment was when Messi flicked his heel to let Perez run up the touchline in the 84th minute. Seeing Messi dance in front of the Colombian players, the Tango fans were extremely excited, just like Maradona had done in the past.

In addition to Messi's trademark technical and delicate moves, the Rosario-born player also constantly fought for the ball fiercely. For more than 90 minutes in the confrontation with Colombia, the player wearing the number 10 shirt often dropped deep, continuously ran, and put pressure on the opposing defenders. It was Messi's passionate playing style that surprised the Colombian defense. Di Maria's goal in the 84th minute was proof of Messi's fierce but no less cunning playing style.

After Perez was robbed of the ball by a Colombian defender, “La Pulga” quickly rushed in to steal the ball from his opponent, then dribbled straight into the penalty area and finished with a pass like a pilot for Di Maria to easily shoot past Ospina.

There are still many concerns.

Objectively speaking, the victory of coach Bauza and his team largely came from Colombia's own weakness, not from the home team's strength. Pakerman's students had a match that was truly below their ability, they were immature in their defensive situations. It is worth mentioning that Colombia's defense made a mistake in creating too much space for Messi. It was the mistakes from individuals and the system that caused goalkeeper Ospina to pick the ball out of the net 3 times, all from superstar Messi (1 goal and 2 assists).

Could it be that the "curse" of not being able to beat Argentina since 2007 has affected the mentality of Colombian players?

Observing Argentina's play in this match, it is clear that their ability to move, hold the ball and launch attacks is not stable at all. It feels like Coach Bauza's students are not confident enough to do that, even though they are of more than enough class. The speed of passing the ball to Colombia's field is not done quickly and smoothly by the Argentine players. Throughout the match, Albicelestes only held the ball about 46% compared to Colombia's 54%.

It is known that the duration of possession of the ball does not decide success or failure in matches, but with a team that is not good at keeping the ball like Colombia, it is really worth discussing the ability to hold, keep the ball and coordinate of the Argentine players.

Once again, people mentioned the concept of “Messidepencia syndrome”. Possessing many world-class stars in the squad, however, the Argentine players relied too much on their captain. They did not dare to hold the ball, break through, or coordinate with each other even though the space in front of them was quite large and the pressure from the Colombian players was not great. Therefore, Argentina’s playing style did not create surprises for the opponent.

If Messi is tightly blocked or cannot play, Argentina will only have to rely on luck. It is not that Bauza does not recognize the downside of “Messidepencia syndrome”, he just does not know how to overcome it.

The road ahead is still long, comfortable for coach Bauza and his team to overcome the shortcomings that still exist in the team. Overcoming direct opponent Colombia, rising to 5th place on the rankings and temporarily relieving the pressure... is a success for the Argentina team, at least for now. There are still many worries, but let's just be happy for now.

Le Thanh Hung