Two days before the match against Ecuador and while the coaching staff closely monitors the progress of Lionel Messi and Marcos Acuña, Argentina faces decisive hours before playing the quarter-finals of the Copa América.
In hot Texas, the national team trained on Tuesday and will do so again on Wednesday afternoon at the Houston Dynamo stadium, when at 3:30 p.m. the usual press conference will take place before the match with Lionel Scaloni, who will return to the other side of the line after being absent due to the Conmebol sanction in the victory against Peru, where Walter Samuel took his place. Almost simultaneously there will be an Argentine flag raising that will take place in a public park in Houston.
Does Messi play?
After being diagnosed with an overload in the rectus femoris of his right leg, Pulga began to feel better and, as a matter of fact, during training he did some of the work alongside his teammates and performed exercises with a ball.
Scaloni will wait until the last minute to see how the captain progresses, but in principle the Rosario star will start against Ecuador from the bench and Angel Di María will take his place again.
With “Dibu” Martinez in goal; Molina, “Cuti” Romero, “Licha” Martinez and Tagliafico confirmed in the back line; and De Paul and Mac Allister as regulars in midfield, the coach must decide between Paredes, Enzo Fernandez and Gio Lo Celso for the third midfielder.
Finally, Scaloni will see if he leans towards Lautaro Martínez, the Copa América’s top scorer (four goals in three games), as the 9, or if he opts for the more self-sacrificing game of Julián Alvarez, which would increase the chance of Messi starting. With Scaloni, you never know, but if the Rosario star finally goes to the bench, his place will be taken by “Nico” González.
Ecuador is coming off a hard-fought qualification after a goalless draw with Mexico. The last time the two teams met is recent, as they faced each other in a friendly match, with Argentina winning 1-0 with a goal from Di María.
The National Team sells more
On the other hand, the Copa America left impressive numbers in attendance at the stadiums and revenue from ticket sales. Argentina is positioned as the most popular team, given that it played its group stage matches against Canada, Chile and Peru, and sold out all three. Against Ecuador, the attendance will not be far behind, given that more than 70,000 people are expected at the NRG Stadium.
In addition, 40% of the matches in this first phase were sold out and the attendances in the Colombia and Venezuela matches were surprising. With the matches on Tuesday, the number of spectators in the United States will exceed one million.
2024-07-02 23:54:14
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