10/08/2020 18:30
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 10/08/2020 6:51 PM
Argentina receives Ecuador, at the beginning of the road to Qatar in 2022 and with Lionel Messi not only as the leader and captain
of the national team, but as the
great protagonist of the South American Qualifiers
that will lead to what may be the last World Cup of his prolific career.
At 9:30 p.m. (Argentine time)
and with arbitration by Chilean Roberto Tobar,
the National Team returns to play in La Bombonera,
although this time it will not be able to take advantage of the pressure factor generated by the Boca Juniors stadium with an audience in its stands, as that due to the coronavirus pandemic the presence of spectators is still not allowed.
The game will be broadcast on Public Television
(Cablevisión channels 11 and DirecTV 621)
and by TyC Sports
(121 and 629, respectively).
Messi in the last qualifying match, in October 2017, against Ecuador in Quito.
(AP)
After the debut, Argentina will visit Bolivia on Tuesday 13, at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz.
Leo Messi faces a special episode of the Qualifiers not only because he does not give up in pursuing his goal of winning a World Cup with Argentina, but also because this debut comes after a convulsed European summer.
The forward wanted to leave Barcelona, he pressed for it but had to stay
, apparently against his will,
to avoid a possible dispute with the club with which he has been in a relationship for two decades
.
💪 @afa joy ⚽️😍 pic.twitter.com/w19fmjSmQM
- Lucas Ocampos # UEL🏆 # SevillaCampeón (@ Locampos15) October 7, 2020
Messi's leadership on the field of play, with the experience of contesting his fifth qualifying process for a World Cup, is coupled with the debut in the Qualifying rounds of coach Lionel Scaloni, who has as the
only antecedent of an official tournament the final in the 2019 Copa América, when Argentina took third place
.
Scaloni's team has everything to start this tie in a good way against an Ecuador that is led by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, who will debut in office and will return to La Bombonera after having directed Boca until December 2019.
Liones Scaloni and Matías Manna (collaborator) at the Selection site.
Photo: @Argentina
Argentina, a young and renewed team but with the talent and imbalance of a mature Messi, will
no longer have at his side those like Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia and Gonzalo Higuaín
, three who resigned from the selected team, or the non-summoned Angel Di María , who were in the three lost finals in Copa América and Brazil 2014 or the poor campaign of Russia 2018.
The Scaloni cycle, which began in September 2018 and which brings together 21 games with 12 wins (including 6-1 to Ecuador in Spain), five draws and four defeats
, brought an air of renewal with names like Emiliano Martínez, Lautaro Martínez ( scorer of the cycle with nine goals), Lucas Ocampos, Rodrigo De Paul, Nicolás Tagliafico, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel, among others.
On this occasion, due to various injuries, Scaloni had to do without several of those mentioned as Walter Kannemann, Renzo Saravia, Agustín Marchesín, Joaquín Correa, Giovanni Lo Celso, Giovanni Simeone and Juan Musso.
He who really wants something, strives to get it #vamosargentina 🇦🇷 @Argentina pic.twitter.com/RhlAClZ2tL
- Emi Martínez (@ emimartinezz1) October 7, 2020
However, and beyond the third place achieved in the Copa América in Brazil, Argentina will have to take another exam with a probable tactical drawing of 4-3-3, with Messi, Ocampos and Lautaro Martínez as the offensive protagonists.
In this scheme, the Flea (33 years old) was tested this Wednesday as a hitch in the soccer test
.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez
, who was very present at Aston Villa in England, had a few minutes to play in practice, but finally the starter will be
Franco Armani,
as had happened in recent games.
Lautaro Martínez and Paulo Dybala, in the training of the National Team Photo @Argentina
Acuña, ex Racing, will enter in place of the injured Giovani Lo Celso, a fundamental piece for Scaloni.
It will be a game to play with a necessary quota of patience since Alfaro's Ecuador is not going to give anything away;
on the contrary, he will bet on a scheme with four defenders and central midfielders,
with Enner Valencia (Fenerbahçe. Turkey) as the only forward
.
In the squad with which Alfaro arrived in Buenos Aires, only goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez, Renato Ibarra and Ángel Mena remain in the team in relation to the team that won on the River 2-0 court on October 9, 2015 on the first date of the tie for Russia 2018.
# SelecciónMayor We start this sunny Wednesday with everything!
🤪💙 pic.twitter.com/qeWaXBf40f
- Argentina National Team 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) October 7, 2020
Alfaro will not be able to fight with Cristhian Noboa, who was even going to wear the captain's tape.
The Sochi player from Russia does not arrive in Argentina due to problems with the flights, but he will be against Uruguay in Quito on Tuesday.
In the playoff history, they played 14 times, with 8 Argentine wins, 2 draws and 4 setbacks.
The antecedents in official matches at the Alberto J. Armando stadium find the national team without defeats there in its eight previous presentations, although an unavoidable negative memory is imposed: in that scenario there was the only elimination of an Argentine national team, before the World Cup. 1970 Mexico.
Gustavo Alfaro makes his debut as coach of a national team.
(EFE)
On that occasion, the team then led by Adolfo Pedernera drew 2-2 against Peru, a result that closed a bad campaign for Argentina in the triangular qualifier in which Bolivia also participated, the only one that could win, also in the Bombonera, by 1-0.
In summary, the National Team played eight official matches in La Bombonera, with five wins and three draws, in which they scored 20 goals and only received four;
two of them, the Peruvians, lethal and sadly unforgettable.
There is nothing cuter than representing your country 🇪🇨 without excuses 💪🏻 https://t.co/LE0voean0G
- EnnerValencia (@ EnnerValencia14) October 5, 2020
The last time the national team set foot in the Boca Juniors stadium was in one of the 24 friendlies that were played there: a 4-0 against Haiti, on May 29, 2018, in the farewell to the national team before traveling to Russia for the World Cup.
Lionel Messi scored three goals, and the rest was made by Sergio Agüero.
The general history, adding qualifying matches and friendlies, shows that 32 matches were played at the Alberto J. Armando stadium: 23 wins, seven equalities and two falls, with 73 goals in favor and 28 against.
Leo Messi in the last match of the National Team in La Bombonera: in May 2018, a 4 to 0 over Haiti.
(EFE)
Possible formations
Argentina
: Franco Armani;
Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico;
Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Marcos Acuña;
Lionel Messi;
Lucas Ocampos and Lautaro Martínez.
DT
: Lionel Scaloni.
Ecuador
: Alexander Domínguez;
Pervis Estupiñán, Robert Arboleda, Franklin Guerra, Erick Ferigra;
Sebastián Méndez, Moisés Caicedo, Jordi Alcívar; Angel Mena, Renato Ibarra, Enner Valencia.
DT
: Gustavo Alfaro.
Hours
: 9:30 p.m. (from Argentina).
TV
: TyC Sports and Public TV.
Referee
: Roberto Tobar (Chile)
Stadium
: La Bombonera.