October 08, (THEWILL) – Argentina was held to a goalless draw in CONMEBOL World Cup Round 11 qualifying against Paraguay at the latter’s Estadio Defensores del Chaco. The visitors had chances to win in Asuncion against Paraguay, but the Copa America champions were unable to do so.
However, the goalless tie meant that Argentina remained unbeaten in second place after nine matchdays on the path to Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, having won 23 games in total.
It was already on record that Messi had received 437 passes in CONMEBOL qualification, the most by any player so far and he was on a creative form against the Paraguayans, who had him in their sights for the entirety of the fixture, knowing what danger a freely-roaming Messi posed.
The Argentine playmaker came into the game fresh off a hat-trick against Bolivia, which saw him surpass Pele as the all-time highest scorer for a South American country at THEWILL reported after that Round 10 fixture.
In the 11th minute, the Paris Saint-Germain star looked lively away to Paraguay, giving Argentina a fantastic chance to break the deadlock. He twisted his way past defenders and sent a ball through to Joaquin Correa, whose goal-bound shot was somehow saved off the line by a scrambling Omar Alderete ahead of Angel Di Maria.
It was a first half that Argentina dominated, however Paraguay had some attacking opportunities.
Within five minutes of the second half beginning, another chance for Argentina went begging, with Rodrigo de Paul’s ball across the six-yard box eluding his teammates.
After Miguel Almiron’s pace created an opening four minutes later, Emiliano Martinez was up to the task of denying the Newcastle United midfielder.
On the hour mark, Di Maria found Joaquin Correa at the back post, but the Argentina forward’s goal-bound header was blocked by some desperate defending on the part of the Paraguayans.
Argentina’s in-form goalkeeper, Martinez, was kept busy in the second half, but he continued to frustrate Paraguay, who were looking for their first home World Cup qualification win against Argentina since 2009.
Paraguay goalkeeper Antony Silva, who was also excellent throughout, performed a brilliant sequence to deny Argentina in the closing stages, first dealing with Guido Rodriguez’s header before tipping Papu Gomez’s long-range drive onto the crossbar seven minutes from time. It was a display that earned him the man of the match.
All that hard work could have been signed off with three points as Carlos Gonzalez almost gave Paraguay the victory in the 88th minute, but his strike was high off the crossbar.
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.
