With two goals scored by Giuliano Simeone, the Argentine Under 23 Team won once again against its counterpart from Paraguay in La Fortaleza de Lanús, where Javier Mascherano’s team won this Monday 2 to 0 in the second friendly in preparation for the Games Olympics.
Those led by the “Little Boss” are in the final phase of preparation for Paris 2024, which will begin on July 26. In this competition, the Argentine National Team shares Group B with Morocco, Iraq and Ukraine.
The Sub 23 had several changes compared to the one that beat the Guarani 4-0 last Saturday on the Huracán field, with goals from Kevin Zenón, Lucas Beltrán in duplicate and Pablo Solari.
On the sunny afternoon in Lanús, the coach opted for an alternative eleven with only two immovable starters up front: Thiago Almada (Atlanta United of the United States) and Luciano Gondou (Argentinos Juniors). The team was completed by goalkeeper Leandro Brey (Boca); Joaquín García and Damián Fernández (both from Vélez), Bruno Amione (Santos Laguna de México) and Julio Soler (Lanús); Alan Varela (Porto), Santiago Hezze (Olympiacos), Simeone (Alavés) and Thiago Fernández (Vélez).
The first minutes lacked any risky situations and the scoring only opened in the 36th minute, when Almada gave Soler a great pass, who reached the bottom from the left and sent a cross that found Simeone in the heart of the area, who headed in. He hit the ground, changing the direction of the ball and beating the Paraguayan goalkeeper.
The second goal came at the start of the complement, when one of “Cholo” Simeone’s sons grabbed the rebound from a high rebound, controlled it and took a very powerful shot from the door of the area and made it 2-0 that would be final. Paraguay tried to react and had a couple of situations: Caballero had the clearest and the new Marcelo Pérez (known as “Mbappérez” in Huracán) could have scored, but they were unsuccessful.
The minutes passed, Mascherano moved the bench and with the final whistle a very positive week of work was rounded off. Now we have to wait for the coach’s decision – and the players’ clubs, of course – to know who will make up the list of 18 surnames that will go to Paris 2024 in search of the gold medal, after those obtained in 2004 and 2008.
It is worth remembering that the Under 23 Team qualified for the Olympic Games after an agonizing classification in the South American Championship that was held in Venezuela, in which they defeated Brazil in a head-to-head match on the last date to finish in second place (Paraguay was champion) and thus get the ticket to Paris.
2024-06-11 03:01:00
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