A young, new look Argentina impress in 3-0 win against Guatemala

By
Roy Nemer
-
108
Argentina
Argentina players celebrate a goal.

A 3-0 win for Lionel SCALONI’s Argentina against Guatemala saw many players impressing.

The first half saw a quick and a very pressing Argentina side. Giovanni SIMEONE had the first real opportunity of the match. The ball fell to SIMEONE but the Fiorentina man’s header went over the bar. Minutes later, a free kick by Leandro PAREDES found Ramiro FUNES MORI as he was left unmarked but his header went wide of the goal.

Argentina’s first goal came off a penalty kick which was excellently dispatched by Gonzalo MARTINEZ. That opened the floodgates for more goals.

Giovani LO CELSO made it 2-0 with a half volley from the edge of the penalty area. That goal was his debut goal for his country and one of the better goals you’ll see this season.

Another player had a debut goal with Giovanni SIMEONE making it 3-0 right before the break. A lovely dribble inside the area and his shot beat the goalkeeper.

The second half did not bring any goals.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

108 Comments

  1. Believe In Something.
    Even if it means sacrificing your hair, your sense of style and leaving great players on the bench for Meza and Enzo.

    Just Do It.

    Presenting the Nike sponsored coach who is protesting against the firing done by the Argentina FA to him, Jorge Sampbaldy.

  3. Hi..I am from malaysia .. I am a hardcore La Albiceleste since 1998..I know Mundo web site since 2 years ago but just read the comments only especially comments from gonzalo because he know more about our youth talented..my support for Argentina team has never changed..Vamos Argentina..

  4. I was like, upon the result, this is just Guatemala. But really, to myself, FUCK YOU!! Argentina could barely beat anybody, small or big. The struggled mightily against so called small teams. So this is a great success, a very good beginning. You play these types of teams, as Argentina, you put up at least three and take none. Mission accomplished. Way to go, Congrats 🎉🎈🎊

  5. Everyone is entitled to thier opinion but is has to be Fair .
    What I’m saying is.. we all know goutemala ‘re not strong I get that .
    I used see so call golden generation struggling against small teams
    Like Jamaica and Panama… they were disjointed disorganized too slow.
    That was that.

    Now those youngsters were impressive more they played like men.
    This first time for years I saw Argentina play as unite .
    They press high right time keep position every player knew his task.
    Now some may say again that were poor Guatemala team.
    The answer is this those youngsters they played first time together.
    They only train together for three days .

    I know harder test will come but as fan i was excited what saw last night
    I’m sure we will lose some games but we will win a lot more with this team
    Pity martinez did for 60 minutes what di maria couldn’t do for 15 or 20 games
    Palacios played like he been playing years for the NT.
    Paredes proved his 45 minutes that kind deep lying playmaker we been crying
    For years.
    Lo celso was excellent not only his goal but his over roll play his passes were so good
    Every time he got the ball he was passing forward he showed what lio messi
    Was missing.
    Ascaciber what play he is. To be honest this first time I saw him playing except
    For under 20s world cup he is real destroyer it won’t be long before you see him
    Playing big European clubs same goes palacios.

    Scaloni very impressive his tactics were spot on .what make me happy is
    Even if he doesn’t stay as full time manager .He is already under 20s coach.
    However if his team repeat same performance against Colombia and Brazil
    He will be serious contender to be full time manager.

  6. @Dadir10

    There’s not many critics here now. One real troll Csabalala. Maybe under few accounts. I wonder admin allow such open trolling.

    The guy is against our youngsters, against our league. He just wait for lost against Colombia. He is always active when any bad thing happend to our young players. Check his only emerge during COTIF tournament. He want to say Argentina has no future.

    The guy is want to tell us the youngsters that play together for the first time should beat now every opponent including COlombia and Brazil. I could say he is just stupid and can’t understand what is start from scratch with comepletely new team, what is long term project. But not, I can’t say that about him because he is not as stupid, he is just troll, Argentina hater.

    But the fact is if you are against Argentina talent resources you are doomed to be proven wrong. Uruguay has 4mln people and great talents. Argentina have 10 times more people and always will have the material.

  7. The players that didnt impressed today were 1)Kannemann
    2)F.Vasquez
    3)Pavon. Pavon involved in many attacks but his final third contribution was poor. He should have gotten a goal or assist.

    • Pavon lacking in the final third due to his poor touches fundamentally…. Hence the vital importance of first touch control, ball control especially if you want to play fast.

      • I always thought he is poor dribbler. However with Paredes and Pavon both on the pitch it still could be good ‘tactic’. Long pass from Paredes + fast run of Pavon is efficient for the lower opponents.

      • One of the best comments I ever seen. First control is everything. When you control the ball with your first touch, that is, you have it exactly, EXACTLY, where you want it to be, the rest is usually easy. Messi goal against Nigeria is greatest example, he absolutely killed that ball, control wise, killed it, and the keeper had zero chance.

    • Honestly I don’t see the point to call Vazquez even though I think he’s a good player but he’ll be 33 years old in 4 years and I doubt if he can still stay at the top. Anyway we have enough material in this position. Even though I prefer Pity, I guess Lanzini should be the 1st choice in the future once he recovers from his injuries.

      • We pay too much attention on Lanzini now. I feel sorry for him. I hyped him a lot some time ago. But he will not back within a year + the time he need back to good form + injury prone player. We should think about players accesibble now.

        We should call up the same players again and again. No need for Vazquez as you’ve said. Few interesting players out off team. For me Pereyra, Almendra, Nicolas Dominguez, Godoy, Montiel, Angileri.

  8. Seems to have lot of competition in this playmaker role in the future: Dybala, Pity Martinez, Vazquez, Lanzini, Vargas, Centurion. Interesting to see they are all around the same age. Honestly hard to choose, they are of the same level to me. Dybala was supposed to be the best but didn’t progress much since 1 year. I personally prefer Pity because of his playing style.

      • Why not? It’s not a traditional 10 role anyway but more a 9-half/playmaker role, that’s the position in which Dybala is strongest. Centurion and Vargas usually as left midfielder at their club, I don’t see why they cannot play this role.

    • Dybala has attitude issues going on. He better get that right and have his head in one place. Rodrigo de Paul is another guy that could compete for this position soon.

  9. Our brilliant coaches refuse to coach their beloved Argentina..but I will stick with scaloni aimar Walter Samuel..I wish that these three will build the team for best… argentina goes through the bad time and from simione to pochettino to gallardo not interested to coach their beloved Argentina when the team is going through the bad time.. if we overcome the bad time then we dosent need simione or pochettino or gallardo..because they dosent want to coach argentina in that bad time..

  11. Some have to remember that The Argentine League is 1 of the Top 5 leagues in the world.
    German league
    Spanish La Liga
    Italian Serie A
    English premier League(Money wise Rich, Play wise bad, But now there r great coaches in the League), Argentine league definitely comes after those 4 as per me the League is highly competitive with young Talented players, Brazilian League and ours can call a Tie.
    French League is crap(France won WC but that doesn’t make the League 1 great)

    How on earth can any Argentine fan say (Legendary Argentine liga which had legendary matches and Legendary Rivalries) players as Farmers. Seriously are they out of mind or what, Its not even Funny..WTF.

    • For me Argentina league have not to be one of 5 top league. No matter about that as I know the talents is there and always will be. The people who are against local league are against heart of Argentina football. I don’t know who they are but rather not Argentina supporters.

  12. I have been very critical of our team as most that read our posts know. This was only Guatemala. Some good moments. I think somebody mentioned Tagilafico’s leadership. He did a nice job. There are about 5 or 6 players that showed they have a future with the team. Maybe another few will show up and it was nerves. And I am sure more talent will come in the next few years.
    The best news? I think maybe 10 years ago is the last time I saw an Argentina play a game with speed and legs and playing 90 minutes. They even attacked after they scored. The last generation may have been a lot more gifted, but these guys want to win and are hungry for sure.

  14. Critics are always critics. Now they wait for Colombia match. If we perform better there…they will wait for Brazil match. If we perform better there too, they will wait for Germany, Spain, France etc. They will wait till we lose..till we play worse. Then only they will be happy.
    See the positive side…and support the team. We are building a new team. We will be better after each matches. You can’t build a team over the night. If our old guard can’t do much after years of togetherness, can we expect an immediate results from this new team….?

    • We should have a balanced team with experience and youth. Argentina is not playing U20 or U23 tournament. If we have players like mbappe 19 years age he gets in, it should be based on form and talent and building the team for future with right transition.

      • Lo Celso, Paredes and Ascacibar midfield is better, faster, balanced and effective than Banega, Mascherano and Biglia midfield.
        Other than Otamendi we can’t expect any old guard coming back for back4 place. That too depends upon form.
        Romero or Rulli…Rulli is better currently.
        In attack Messi and Aguero will be back. But we don’t know they will/can play next WC. I wish at least Messi plays.
        So don’t expect many old players back…Messi, Aguero, Romero and Otamendi. May be these 4 upto some more years…Only Messi and Romero may be upto 2022 WC.

  15. Encouraging game, can’t wait to see the one vs Columbia maybe with more experienced players. I like the new system, more closed to my favorite 4312. 1 of the fullbacks can operate as center-back, 3 midfielders with different profiles, 1 plays deeper to protect the defense, 1 more b2b able to play as winger when necessary and 1 more creative CM with good tactical sense. In attack, 1 9-half who can play on both sides or as playmaker, 1 fast winger and 1 traditional forward who is used as the pivot. That’s the same system used by Italy in 2006, Germany in 2014 and by France in 98/2018. The advantage is to have 3 guys in the middle to win back the ball quickly, and easy to switch to 442 when the team in defensive mode or to 343 when the team attacks.

  16. Don’t want to be negative here, but we have to realize that although this is a brand new Argentina with new players practically just meeting each other, they played a Guatemala who is just coming out of a ban From FIFA for almost two years now.

    Regardless, there was ALOT of promising signs for the future, specifically IMO from Paredes, Lo Celso, I really liked Saravia’s performance tbh, Exequiel Palacios, and Gonzalo Martínez. Ascacibar, I expected more tbh. Sure he is good defensively against Guatemala, but has yet to be tested against stronger opponents.

    Where it was weak was the Right wing where Pavon was. Pretty much absent the game, and Vargas didn’t do anything either. Honestly, Dybala should’ve been put in that position. Hopefully he’ll be there against Colombia. Pezzella and Funes Mori have yet to be tested, along with Rulli.

    Simeone should’ve had a hat-trick, but didn’t. Aguero looks the likely candidate for the CF, and deservedly should be! Icardi would be the best second choice. Also, as mentioned earlier, the Right flank of attack looked very weak, with neither Pavon or Vargas not doing much against Guatemala, so they wouldn’t be able to do much against Brazil, France, Germany, etc, either. (Yes it’s their first game but if they couldn’t do much against a weak defense like Guatemala’s, They won’t do so hot against experienced defenders in Europe and the rest of South America). So if not Dybala, Messi should still be deployed there. Romero also is still Argentina’s best GK IMO, but he has someone behind him ready to pounce if he doesn’t turn up.

    These youngsters showed that Di Maria, Enzo, etc time is up. Only just, maybe, perhaps, possibly, Banega could still be called up. He always gives 100% and frankly was our best midfield presence in Russia. If Otamendi doesn’t get minutes soon for Man City, his spot could also be jeopardized, as Musacchio is playing week in and week out for Milan.

    Like I said, they played a Guatemala who just came out of a two year ban from football, so although not a major win, what this does is set up for these youngsters is the confidence for a better test against Colombia. If we do well against Colombia, THEN we can get excited! But until then just wait and see.

    Vamos Argentina!!!!!

    • Currently I guess Scaloni need a winger able to play as 2nd striker too. So Pavon and Angel Correa, Joaquin Correa and Ocampos should be the top choices. I like all of them with little preference on Angel Correa. True that it’s been a while that Pavon has been disappointing with the national team. Maybe things can get better if he switches to the left side, and with Dybala is used as playmaker slightly skewed to the right.

  18. 1. We have to accept that Messi gen’s era is over. Most of them declined, past their prime. 2 has retired. Messi retired unofficially. Only aguero is still in his prime and available. Romero is still there. My point is that we have to move forward. We have no other way. We have to develop a new team.

    2. The new young players who have been selected for these two friendlies are the best we got at this moment, more or less. There is no gain in complaining. You can label them as farmer, average or whatever you want ….but there are no better younsters waiting outside. Not at this moment.

    3. A fans primary job is supporting the team, supporting even when they are loosing. Fan’s job is being the 12th man, be it in stadium or be it in virtual world. If we term our best younsters farmers, others won’t be so kind. This is the reason big clubs go after Brazilian younsters. Because they have more followers, more enthusiastic fans. More fans mean more jersey sales, more tv ratings, more article click.

    3. Pity Martinez was impressive. Paredes sub reduced creativity immediately. Paredes can provide long balls from deep and midfield. He is a great set piece taker too. But in first half ball winning from midfield was lacking. Ascacibar is a great at ball winning, but his passes are short and harmless. We need them both along with lo celso. Palacios is only 19, he was praised by Ray Hudson during the game. He has good future, but other three is more mature and has experience of bigger stages. Lo celso, paredes, ascacibar is midfield. Pity can keep his place too. Simeone is not ready. We also need to try Correa over pavon. Correa is a better shooter and does more defensive work.

    • Yes I agreed with that, the midfield is balanced with Paredes, Ascacibar and Lo Celso. Pity and Palacios did well for their 1st game. Overall it’s an encouraging game for the young players. I think in the next game, Scaloni will try with Correa and Dybala behind Icardi(if he is ready). And maybe Pereyra and Ascacibar instead of Paredes and Palacios in the midfield so that everyone has some playing time.

    • Paredes and Ascacibar complement each other. Ascacibar passing is limited, Paredes defesive skills as well. I agree that there was less creativity with Paredes lack in second half but the other side of the situation is probably more deffensive tactic of our team and Guatemala tactic improvement.

  19. Good performance all in all considering they all r playing together for first time. But Cant say about the Performance of any particular player as it is against Guatemala. After Columbia game we will get a far far better idea, Its gonna be tough match they r a good team. That match will definitely prepare us for Brazil (Undoubtedly the biggest test till December)

  20. SOME WORDS TO THE BLIND CRITICS

    It’s shocking to me how a few Mundo members are critisizing the team and underestimating the kids’ achievement against Guatemala. They critisize the kids as if they were playing ages together.

    Those who only know how to critisize these young players let me tell you that the old guards’ cycle is over and a new guards have come into the equation. The project has started with this game and it will continue for some years to come.

    The kids I’ve seen have a big national future ahead of them and I hope they will win what the oldies couldn’t.

    The guys you are crying for are a thing in the past and now it’s the era of the youngsters whether you like it or not.

  21. Great beginning. Couldn’t see the match but will surely see the highlights. Boys will become giants . Scaloni should now be given an extended run

  22. ……………….rulli………………………..

    Salavia…….foyth…….kanneman….taglia..

    ………….. ascasibar..,……….,…………….

    …….peredes…………… lo celso……………….

    ………dybala…. ………………..laurato…..

    ……………icardi…………………………

    Better than France???????😁😁😉😉

  23. GUYS. This is Guatemala with your all analysis about players, reserve judgment until they play Colombia and Brazil. Before the game, I said if Argentina did not win by at least 7 goals, it was not good enough. 3-0 against Guatemala and you all are dancing as if it is any good achievement? Give me a break!!!

    • 100% true troll gonzalo and his folks lost their mind again, a win against Columbia will mean something. A lot of fouls, it seems the guys cant even stop even a very weak team without fouls (25+)

      • Hahaha,

        now at least everyone know who is troll of the site. Csabalala is here just to see our team losing. Really quiet when everything goes good.

        Fuck off troll.

        BTW yous should check troll definition and how you suit the case.

    • true this is only guatemala…..
      but our side was completely new…
      new coach new system new players….
      all together it isn’t a bad match….angel correa, icardi & dybala didn’t start…
      btw our WC team scored 4 against haiti also wasnt this much impressive….
      so how do you expect a new team with new system to score 7 goals ?
      only delusional fans would expect that much from this team….

  24. We need ascacibar as our main CDM…….his defensive and ball recovery skills are better than any other…
    Peredes and lo celso can play as CM……
    correa dybala and icardi should start against Colombia….
    after a long time i have seen an Argentina game where the cross was accurate…..
    long pass that tore apart the defense….
    if you consider haiti and guatemala same team…..
    we played better this time….

  25. When world cup was starting i thought Lo Celso is a gift from God for Argentina, the boy just came in the scenario around January and deservedly earned his place in the team. But look what they did to him, i hoped Messi will try to convince the coach but he seems had other ideas. Now its new Argentina, freashers in the team, no same old mistake again. This is team Argentina, not a team of a particular player. I am sure Argentina will win at least something with these young brave midfieldes who are ready to leave club like PSG for club like Real Betis just to play more. Good luck Lo Celso & co.

    • I talked to some friends about Lo Celso (which they don’t know very well) and they were stunned that he did not play in the WC after watching some videos, Sampaoli said that he had plans to use Lo Celso and Lanzini together, but since Lanzini got injured he dropped him (which total BS).

  26. For me based on individual ability our best 3 central midfield combination is Ascacibar, Paredes and Lo Celso. We have to play them together at every opportunity to get that midfield understanding.

    I’m holding out for my judgement on Palacios and I’m not gonna hype him up like Meza( who I realised after a few games is horrible and should not be anywhere near the national team.

    Anyway I hope we pick our best players in each position and play them no matter what the result, we have to build a team.

    I don’t care if we don’t win the Copa America I would rather build a team for 2022

    • Palacios is still a baby, he needs to flourish, but he is showing great promise. he should not move to bigger club for 2 more years at least.

  27. I wonder who will play against Colombia as RB. I thought Saravia would be better with more defensive prone than Bustos. Bustos is more risky in defence for Colombia but give more ahead movement. Maybe the third – Leonel Di Placido is the answer.

    Really the position is enigma for me with many interesting options left in Argentina still: Godoy, Gomez, Montiel, Jara, Abecasis.

    ATM I could say – I like Saravia of the players we have now in USA.

    • There nothing I can say about for our defence tonight because they haven’t been tested yet I guess against Colombia I will play same just replace funes mori with kananman but I like ruli he can play with his feet

  28. No matter a win or lose..we should test other players against Colombia. Icardi, Correa, Battaglia, Meza and Bustos.
    All the players played today excited me except Franco Vazquez.
    We have to keep same back4 except RB position. Rulli should be playing all the matches from now on. Let him create a good chemistry with back4.
    I would like to see completely new starting players from mid to forward against Colombia.

    • I think Lo Celso, Palacios, Ascacibar/Paredes should form our core midfield and give them as many chances as possible to play together.

      • Most of us were calling for Lo Celso, Paredes, Ascacibar in midfield. Now its happening. But we have to test other players. We need proper back up in every position.
        Palacios and Martinez impressed me a lot. I didn’t expect that.
        If Battaglia and Meza can’t perform as we expect (after some matches) we should search for other players.
        Correa, Cervi, Icardi, Bustos etc should earn their place. As starter or as sub. We need competition in the team.

  29. Good to see so many young players eager to prove themselves. Some great play in 1st half. Second half was ruined by too many subs, as usual in all friendlies these days.

    Agree that we should keep this squad for friendlies in October, November and March. Messi -if he wants- can come back for Copa and take Pavon’s spot on the right.

  30. My take:
    Lo Celso, Ascacibar, Parades & Palacios in the midfield. 4 players for potentially only 3 spots. This is a good problem for us to have finally! I suppose against fast counter attacking teams they play the double pivot and against the usual park the bus teams one of Ascacibar/Parades will be dropped. This will be a great mini-competition to see over the years. In any case, this seems like good strength for us in the heart of the pitch and I am very excited to see these four develop together.

    I think we still have a problem with the advanced width players. Regarding Pavon I will say again what I already posted. When you look superficially he always seems to put in a good performance but if you look deeper it always seems he’s missing the cutting edge or the final killer ball. On the other side, Martinez and Cervi both had good moments. But it still not a guaranteed position for them in my view. I would still like to see competition from someone like OCampos there.

    Both the full backs played the whole game and had a few decent overlaps. Saravia needs more competition for his spot. I am not convinced about his recovery abilities on the counter yet. Tagliafico had an awesome game as captain. He leadership was something missing for us. For example him calming the yellow card offenders quickly, when in the past idiots like Otamendi would just flare up and not many could calm them.

    Simeone had some sparks but man, he needs to do a lot more development and work if he is to take Icardi’s post (or even Kun’s at least for the next couple years).

    The CB’s had nothing much to do so I’ll only comment on their forward ball movement. I think Pezella was the best in the group so far. But we still have to see the entire back line including keeper against better teams to see if they can really build from the back under extreme press.

    Overall a good start, but still a lot to be tested, especially against stronger opponents like Colombia or Brazil coming up.

  31. Honestly speaking few are not NT label yet but youngsters needs time, RB portion is worrying, defense is not tested still looks good, what makes makes me happy is midfield specially parades and lo celso. Disappointed with forward line could have scored more correra Icardi Dybala should be against Colombia

  32. Gonzalo pity martinezzzzzzzzz man he just blow me up , what a player , he should be right into the argentina 11 as soon as possible , today argentina played the game , that every argentine fans waited for years to see , every single player impressed me , especially – pity ,pavon, ascacibar , lo celso , palacios .
    Although the real test is against colombia , but today we got to see how argentina will rape the europeans in 2022. And with that I liked how scaloni tactically played the football he wanted and also with right substitution .

    Vamos argentina.

  33. Remember they only train together three days
    They were looke like they been playing long time together
    Paredes his passes were superb young palacios and his club teammate
    Pity martinez Were impressive ‘ lo celso was another level.
    I don’t know what tuchal has been drinking.

    Scaloni were good too

  34. The kids played with heart. very impressive for first match ever together.
    As Gonzalo said:
    Paredes,Lo Celso,Ascacibar and Palacios were great.

    Palacios played very well in tight places, Lo Celso and Palacios both can be our box to box midfielders.

  35. Palacios – I love this guy. And believe me He has still a lot more to show especially on passing distribution. In youth teams he was kinda of playmaker. Will be complete box to box.

          • 4231 will be our next formation after 433. But still I don’t think we will start both Lo Celso and Palacios together in that formation. It may be either of them with two wingers.
            It may be,
            Paredes-Ascacibar
            RW-LoCelso-LW
            CF

          • I don’t mind playing double 5 but it will depend on who we play against
            We have to be more flexible either double 5.Or three in the middle but what I saw from scaloni’s team I liked he looks good I know is only one game but trust me I used watch Argentina a lot and you used be disjoint and disorganized but tonight they were unite and Mora organised with clear idea too one more thing ruli looked real sweeper .. by the way
            Colombia doesn’t scare me a bit

  36. I could try Pity Martinez in place of Pavon (Pity likes the right wing even more) and Cervi on left wing. I think Cervi has a lot to show individually yet and he is more disciplined than Correa on team cooperation.

  37. Pity Martinez scored the penalty not Lautaro … but the best 5 players were
    1- loCelso
    2- pity Martinez
    3- Pavon
    4 – palacios
    5- parcedes
    … all five of these players have bright future for the seleccion … )even though this game was against Guatemala) you saw there talent

    Simeone, other than his goal played poorly! Out of position a lot of times… missed a open header from 4 years out.. could have had 6 goals potentially… he is not ready for la seleccion yet…

    Second half was horrible up front …

  38. Great match. Btw it was Gonzalo Martinez, not Lautaro. But yeah, I’m very proud of the team, they are very young and talented. They played excellently. I just hope this team can play with Messi. Lanzini and Lamela deserve to play tbh. Wonderful performance. But the main issue I think was the through balls. We couldn’t link up attack that well in my opinion. The whole team did very well today, VAMOS!!

Comments are closed.