Lack of goals a worry for Argentina ahead of semis
PARAGUAY TO BANK ON COUNTER-ATTACK AND SET-PIECES
Argentina’s insistent but inefficient forwards and Paraguay’s counterattacking strengths are to come head to head in today’s Copa America semifinal in the southern Chilean city of Concepcion.
Paraguay are out to at least match their Copa America performance of four years ago, where they lost the final to Uruguay. Argentina, the runnersup in last year’s World Cup, are chasing their first major title since 1993.
The winner of this match is to play either hosts Chile or surprise package Peru in Saturday’s final.
“The bad thing about Argentina’s defence is that their attack is out of this world, so the defence may look worse. They are prestigious players and we will try to hurt them,” veteran Paraguay striker Nelson Haedo Valdez said Sunday.
Argentina’s attacking line is indeed extraordinary on paper, with Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore, and with the likes of Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain sitting on the bench. And yet they have had significant trouble scoring during the Copa America, despite creating what seems like endless chances.
In their first group-round match, against Paraguay, Messi and company were winning 2-0 at half-time and then allowed their rivals back into the game for a 2-2 draw. They later beat Uruguay 1-0 and got a similar result against the lowly Jamaica.
In their quarter-final Friday against Colombia, Argentina had complete control of the ball and many, many chances, but regulation time inexplicably ended 0-0. The penalty shootout appeared to do justice to the game by seeing Argentina through to the next round.
Hard work
“It’s incredible how hard it is for me to score a goal with the national team. Today I had really clear chances and I just couldn’t net the ball,” Messi said after the quarter-final.
The four-time Ballon d’Or winner, who just turned 28 and is already the top scorer in Barcelona’s history, has not scored a goal in the knock-out rounds of a tournament with Argentina for eight years, since the 2007 Copa America semi-final against Mexico.
He failed to net the ball in the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 Copa America, and he only scored in the group round in Brazil 2014. In Chile so far, he has only scored in Argentina’s opener against Paraguay, from the penalty spot.
Coach Gerardo Martino is somewhat worried about his men’s failure to convert the many chances they create, but he has noted he has little else to complain about. And yet, however well Argentina play, it may be to no avail if they fail to find the back of the net.
Paraguay appear to have grown a lot as a team so far in Chile. They arrived as the worst side in South America’s last qualifiers, which led them to miss Brazil 2014 after playing four World Cups in succession.
Paraguay know they have no Messi, but they are dangerous in counterattack and set-pieces. And they are very upbeat after doing a lot better than expected in Chile so far.
“Our dreams rest on the things we had lost and have found again,” said veteran keeper Justo Villar, 37.