Argentina, the reigning world champions, opted to relaxation star participant Lionel Messi for his or her current conflict towards Bolivia in La Paz. Nevertheless, this resolution did not hinder their success, as they cruised to a cushty 3-Zero victory over a 10-man Bolivian aspect.
The triumph permits Argentina to keep up their good begin to the South American World Cup qualifying marketing campaign.
Messi, who has been busy together with his membership Inter Miami, took a break from motion after expressing fatigue following his essential purpose within the 1-Zero win towards Ecuador final Thursday. As a substitute of taking the sector, he noticed the match from the bench and was not included within the substitute checklist.
Regardless of lacking their talisman, Argentina displayed a dominant efficiency, showcasing their offensive forte. Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Tagliafico, and Nicolas Gonzalez discovered the again of the web, securing the win for his or her crew.
Chelsea midfielder Fernandez got here near opening the scoring with a outstanding long-range effort that was on track, solely to be denied by Bolivia’s goalkeeper, Guillermo Viscarra. Viscarra’s agile goalkeeping expertise have been put to the take a look at once more as he thwarted a close to put up strike from Julian Alvarez, who capitalized on some defensive errors.
Argentina took the lead within the 31st minute when Angel Di Maria delivered a exact cross, met by Fernandez, who executed a well-timed run into the field. Bolivia’s job turned much more difficult eight minutes later when Roberto Fernandez acquired a crimson card for a reckless problem on Cristian Romero.
At halftime, Argentina held a cushty 2-Zero lead, due to Tagliafico’s header from a floated Di Maria free-kick.
Within the second half, Argentina remained in full management, with Alvarez hitting the put up within the 70th minute. Viscarra continued to be busy, making essential saves to disclaim efforts from Rodrigo De Paul and Di Maria.
Fernandez put the ending touches on the victory with a left-footed strike seven minutes from the tip, capitalizing on extra hesitant defending from the house aspect.
Argentina’s spectacular win units the tone for his or her World Cup qualifying journey, even within the absence of their star participant. In different matches on Tuesday, Ecuador hosted Uruguay, Venezuela confronted Paraguay, Colombia traveled to Chile, and Brazil took on Peru.