June 15, (THEWILL)- Argentina opened their Copa America challenge with an electrifying match against arch-rivals Chile on Monday night with a share of the points as the match ended one goal apiece for both South American football heavyweights.
However, just below the facade of the result, it was another frustrating game for Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who is constantly plagued by the affliction of not being able to replicate his overwhelming club success in the colours of his football-loving nation and being seen as a failure at home.
Not for want of trying, the match against Chile was another where his contributions needed some other Argentine player to demonstrate some of his input and the game could have been put to bed to their advantage by a lot more than the single goal they ended with, which itself came off of the boot of the wildly impressive 90 minutes that Messi conjured up again.
Three minutes after the half hour mark, Messi curved a sumptuous curling free-kick past the Chilean wall that beat Claudio Bravo, who got his fingers to it on the fly but could not prevent it from hitting the net at the top right corner. It was Messi’s 57th career freekick and were his teammates up to par, it could have been a milestone to celebrate post-match.
However, after the interval, Chile switched on the pressure with a renewed vigour for which they were rewarded just before the hour mark. Referee Wilmar Roldan awarded Chile a penalty for an infringement on Arturo Vidal but after Emiliano Martinez brilliantly stopped Vidal’s penalty, Eduardo Vargas was there to head the rebound home.
The scores were levelled in the 57th minutes leaving enough time for Argentina to edge ahead and carter all three points. They had the best of chances to do so and could have scored no less than three goals given the goal-scoring opportunities they carved out for themselves. Yet, at each one, forwards Nico Gonzalez and Lautaro Martinez fluffed their lines including a mouthwatering chance for Martinez.
The statistics bear evidence to the work that Messi and the team did to take the game as Argentina finished with 18 shots compared to a measly five for the Chileans. Although Bravo came to La Roja’s rescue on more than one occasion, the pitiably terrible finishing of Martinez and Gonzalez made it a regrettable opening fixture for Albiceleste.
THEWILL recalls that this has been the same outcome for much of the professional senior career of the talismanic Barcelona forward, Messi. With a solid display of responsible football mindsets around him, the player played his role to the fullest at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, where Messi led Argentina to beat the John Mikel Obi-led Nigerian U-20 side in the final 2-1 to lift the trophy.
But, since then, the form that Messi has improved by leaps and bounds has not yielded accolades for Argentina in the same manner it has for the striker’s club as he keeps getting his efforts thwarted by a most unsupportive cast of players irrespective of the statistically-backed volumes of efforts he puts into the team’s games.
The result against Chile made the name of retired Argentine forward, Gonzalo Higuain, to trend on Twitter the morning after as many remembered with pity how the profligacy of the striker was hugely responsible for the World Cup final Argentina lost to Germany. Sent through one-on-one with the keeper, Higuain fired wide at the Maracana Stadium allowing Die Mannschaft to win with a Mario Gotze goal in extra time, leaving Messi in tears.
Higuain was also responsible for another Copa America loss in what may have soiled his reputation as a striker of note in the last days of his career. In all these Messi has laboured to lift the team by their bootstraps. The fact is he cannot do it alone in a region where other teams have improved and football is a national enterprise. Until the rest devote as much resolve to improving, it will be another sorry sorry for Argentina’s and Messi’s hopes for national glory.
As THEWILL reported, the Copa America was moved at late notice to Brazil after Colombia and Argentina were dropped as co-hosts due to COVID-19 concerns but health experts criticized the move of hosting rights to another country where the COVID-19 death toll is nearing 490,000 from records.
The competition continues with Argentina’s next match is against another strong rival Uruguay on Friday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
