The Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles was, almost six years ago, the kickoff of the
Lionel Scaloni
cycle , which in turn began a profound renovation to look for new protagonists who, guided by the hand of
Lionel Messi
,
Angel Di María
and
Nicolás Otamendi , they would end the
Argentine National Team
's title drought years later
.
That same stage is where the Albiceleste replacement continues to flourish.
Because there, on Tuesday night on the West Coast and already beginning Wednesday in Argentina,
Alejandro Garnacho made his headline presentation
, perhaps the young face that arouses the most expectations in a group of
Europibes
who invite us to extend the illusion for several More years.
Garnacho, 19 years old, finally had his baptism from the start.
Until now, the youth born in Madrid whose mother, Patricia Ferreyra, is Argentine, had added less than one hundred minutes in total between the four participations he had had in the Albiceleste Major.
Garnacho made his debut coming off the bench on the 2023 Asian tour, first against
Australia
and then against
Indonesia
.
He came on for five minutes in the 3-0 victory against Bolivia in La Paz in the South American Qualifiers.
And he had just played the second 45 minutes against El Salvador in Philadelphia in the first game of this tour of the United States.
The world champion anthem plays in Los Angeles!
Play the National Team🇦🇷 against Costa Rica🇨🇷 and enjoy it LIVE on @tycsports and https://t.co/oDHOhj9Wcn here👉https://t.co/lbM1mfILeg pic.twitter.com/4u6AAVf6a8
— TyC Sports Play (@TyCSportsPlay) March 27, 2024
'Bichito', who had a great season at Manchester United, was waiting for this opportunity.
Hugging his companions, he closed his eyes and thus experienced the National Anthem.
His Spanish accent doesn't stop him from connecting with his Argentine roots
.
After the initial whistle, Garnacho positioned himself as the left winger, a place where Scaloni has always used him until now.
In that sector he was participatory, although he did not have an easy task.
The lack of spaces as a result of the defensive scheme with five defenders and four midfielders implemented by Gustavo Alfaro's Costa Rica was quite a challenge.
It was practically impossible for him to exploit his greatest virtue: speed and imbalance in one-on-one situations.
The thing is that he was never one-on-one with a rival, as usually happens in Europe, because behind the winger Haxzel Quiros there was always Fernán Faerrón as cover.
#ARG 🇦🇷 0-0 🇨🇷 #CRC |
20' PT |
Garnacho had it, Lo Celso had it in Argentina's best play.
Great response from Keylor Navas to sustain the tie
🔴 Watch the match live at https://t.co/JIh8DXpAEb pic.twitter.com/TIPswTkw2g
— Public Television (@TV_Publica) March 27, 2024
Even so, they managed to have a couple of chances in the first half.
A left foot shot that Keylor Navas deactivated and a deflected shot after a corner from Di María.
Afterwards, Garnacho tried, but in most cases he did not find space or clarity to finish his plays with good decisions.
Costa Rica was careful not to let him free and achieved its goal.
Every time Garnacho received the ball he had at least two men surrounding him.
Sometimes he tried to touch, sometimes to dribble without much success, the kid with the '17' shirt, who persevered until with 20 minutes left, Scaloni replaced him with Lautaro Martínez.
Garnacho completed 70 minutes and could not make a difference on the left wing.
Photo: AP
Beyond not being able to resolve favorably, it was a step forward from Garnacho in the world champion team.
In blue and white, he is growing and gaining confidence, which he already has at United.
In the English club he has 7 goals and 4 assists in the 38 games played in total so far this season.
He started as a substitute, and now he has played 22 consecutive games in the league.
This present makes him the focus of the Argentine coaching staff, who are looking at him carefully ahead of the Copa América.
Garnacho knows that it is not easy for him to find his place on the definitive list of 23 names.
But he also knows that it is not impossible and that it depends on him and his level to win the prize of being one of those chosen by Scaloni for the big event in June in North America.
Two other premieres in the Major
The night in Los Angeles was also special for two other players who had their first time in the Senior National Team.
One is
Walter Benítez
, the goalkeeper who started against Costa Rica.
The other is
Valentín Carboni
, who entered in the second half for his debut in the Major League.
Benítez, 31, is bidding to win the third goalkeeper spot on the Copa América roster.
The Chaco from Quilmes was tested by Lionel Scaloni who wanted to see him from the beginning, relegating Emiliano Martínez to the bench as an exception.
He had some confident first interventions, although in Costa Rica's goal he left the rebound short for Manfred Ugalde to take advantage of in the middle.
He did not cower and recovered by providing security with quick interventions in other counterattack actions.
Carboni, the 19-year-old kid who currently plays for Monza in Italy, had to come on 9 minutes from the end of the match, replacing Di María.
This left-hander with an elegant trot who reveals Javier Mascherano (DT of the Sub 20 and Sub 23) had little time but it was enough to show what he can offer.
On the right he outlined himself and released his left foot with a shot that almost ended in the Argentine's fourth goal.