Manchester City: International Break Round Up

Argentina: Otamendi, Aguero

Argentina headed into the international break needing good results. They were playing in a top-heavy group with teams like Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia all vying for qualifying spots. They started off with a match against Peru, in which our defender Nicolas Otamendi did start. I was rather surprised with some of the players Sampaoli threw into the fray with his lineup, and I’m positive it affected the performance. They looked solid in defense, however going forward Messi had to create everything and his players were not finishing their chances. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, and forced Argentina to think long and hard, as the next game they would need to win.

Against Ecuador, the game started off quite bad for the Argentinians. A goal within the first minute by Romario Ibarra might have spelled disaster for them. However, they quickly bounced back with Messi scoring off a pass from Di Maria in the 11th minute and taking advantage of a poor back pass in the 18th minute. Messi completed his hattrick in the second half and secure Argentina’s spot in the World Cup. Otamendi has also looked solid in defense for the Argentinians, however, the two outside backs have been quite awful to be frank. Sampaoli needs to change some things before the start of the World Cup for sure.