Argentina 2-0 Italy
It’s really easy and lazy to just dismiss Argentina as Lionel Messi’s team the same way we think of Portugal as Cristiano Ronaldo’s.
However, Jorge Sampaoli looks to prove that thought as invalid in the coming football games. While they were the heavy favourites among the football betting community, the fact that they won against Italy without Lionel Messi stepping up proves the quality the Albiceleste has over the Azzurri.
If we look at the contents of the game alone, we can see that the South Americans had the majority of the possession and scoring opportunities. Angel Di Maria was brilliant as the Messi stand-in, attempting fantastic shots and needling passes throughout the game.
Nicolas Otamendi and Gonzalo Higuain were also among the players did their fair share of shot attempts. Gianluigi Buffon, who suited up once more for Italy, had a rough night saving one dangerous ball after another.
Not much happened in the first half, but the Italians actually had a great chance to grab the lead early in the second. Italian pressure forced Lucas Biglia to make a terrible pass to Ciro Immobile, who immediately passed it to Lorenzo Insigne. Willie Caballero was the only one stopping the Napoli target man from scoring, and his great positioning forced Insigne to miss.
The two nations continued exchanging blows at the Etihad, but both keepers were showing great resilience. However, some 1-2 action between Ever Banega and Giovani Lo Celso in the 75th minute opened the way for the Sevilla midfielder to score the first goal of the game to the bottom right corner.
The game was quickly settled ten minutes later after Gonzalo Higuain attracted the Italian defence to give Manuel Lanzini enough daylight for the second one. The ball flew to the upper left corner, just out of Buffon’s reach.
There should be fewer doubts now on whether Argentina could make it far in the tournament. They managed to do this to an Italian side with Ciro Immobile and Gianluigi Buffon on the pitch. Just imagine the final score if Argentina’s No 10 was there?
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