In the second and last match of this friendly window, the Argentine National Team took revenge and beat Chile by the slightest difference with a goal by Yamila Rodríguez in the second half, achieving its second victory in the Portanova Era. The match was played at the Juan Gilberto Funes Stadium in San Luis, a place where more than 8,000 people came to encourage the “Albiceleste”.
Argentina took the field with two changes from Friday’s 1-0 loss against the same rival in Córdoba: Julieta Cruz (defender) and Laurina Oliveros (goalkeeper) replaced Soledad Jaimes and Vanina Correa respectively.
Within the individual performances of the team led today by Sebastián Gómez and Christian Meloni (Portanova meets the sub-20 in the South American), Romina Núñez (midfielder outside) was more advanced than in the previous match and fulfilled offensive functions, added to her multifunctionality that helped her to complement herself with all her companions.
Ruth Bravo moved throughout the field, being firm on the mark, playing forward and complementing herself a lot with Daiana Falfan, other midfielders who settled in the center of the field and who shared the ‘double 5’ with “Chule” .
Due to the absence of Sole Jaimes from the starters, Argentina played almost the entire match without a fixed 9 (Erica Lonigro joined her zone at the end of the match), so Florencia Bonseguro and Mariana Larroquette occupied the position, qualifying for the ends. For this reason, the team lacked through passes directed towards the center of the box that do damage directly to the opposing goalkeeper. The local team arrived at the edge of the large area and tried with set pieces and crosses from Eliana Stabile and the aforementioned Núñez, looking for the head of the central defenders Barroso and Cometti who risked joining the attack. There was good pressure from Argentina in Chilean territory in the first few minutes.
At the start of the match, Chile had to force a substitution due to injury and the difficulties of the match were going to be felt. Yanara Aedo entered for an injured Paloma López.
The most dangerous plays were seen after 15 minutes when Karen Araya almost scored an Olympic goal. The Sevilla midfielder took a close shot and goalkeeper Laurina Oliveros used extreme resources and stopped the ball.
Argentina’s first clear was at 26 minutes. Eliana Stabile executed a free kick in the form of a set piece that Bonsecond, without a mark on top, could not head towards the goal of the Chilean goalkeeper Campos. This was a constant in the first half, in which the locals looked for the goal in the rival field on several occasions.
It was difficult for Chile when they recovered the ball from ¼ of the court. They lost it quickly and went out playing without organization, added to the orderly setback of Argentina. The trasandinas withdrew to the bottom in the first period. It was not effective in the attack and did not generate danger. From midfield they were encouraged to create a game, but it was not enough.
Argentina lost intensity after 30 minutes and lost possession of the ball (it reached 70%), letting Chile enter the match.
In the 38th minute, Stabile had another free kick from the right that went close to the goal, but it was misdirected and didn’t give Campos any trouble. In the 39th minute, Banini’s first attempt from the side appeared, when the number 22 overflowed and outpaced the opposing defenders, but then she couldn’t cross the players who came from behind and she couldn’t have the strength to shoot on goal. The goalkeeper controlled the shot without any problems.
Chile’s most dangerous action in the entire match occurred towards the end of the first 45 minutes when “Pancha” Lara executed a cross that Cometti cleared, but almost went into the goal clearing for a corner.
The first half had Argentina with superior arrivals and possession of the ball. Good associations were generated between Banini and Bon Segundo, two of the players with the best feet on the team. Chile tried with centers to the rival area. Unlike last Friday’s game, there was less intensity, but the locals improved a lot with their possession of the ball and when they stepped on the rival area. He lacked the goal due to the fact that there were no filtered passes and danger was sought with crosses, but Argentina had much more chances and clear arrivals. The “Red” had few chances, but always dangerous.
Already the second half began as a constant in the first half with Argentina being the protagonist. Possession continued to belong to the locals, controlling the game from short passes and with Banini playing a leading role in midfield, becoming a link between defenders and forwards with good control of the ball and changes in front. Bonsecond: always dangerous from the left. Argentina continued to reach ¾ of the court, but lacked danger in the final meters. Then, he stayed after 15 minutes, losing intensity and letting Chile play, which had two very clear ones.
At 10 minutes, Yanara Aedo almost scored after a distraction in the Argentine bottom. Zamora put the center back and the number 10 had no direction in the shot that went over Oliveros who was located far from the door. Two minutes later, the Boca Juniors goalkeeper stopped a one-on-one by the striker Yenny Acuña, who entered from the bench.
Argentina, faced with the impossibility of filtering balls into the area and being face to face with the goal, began to kick from afar, first with Larroquette.
Chile approached the area after 20′, managed to create disorder in Argentina that could not be oriented with the changes.
But since then, history changed and the goal that sentenced the fair came. The Argentine goal came from the bench 23 minutes into the second half from Boca Juniors striker Yamila Rodríguez, who scored her second goal in the Portanova era (the previous one was against Chivas de Guadalajara in Mexico).
The 1-0 was the product of a long pass directed at the defender Cometti who was in the area and managed just enough to put a pass at the height of the penalty spot. The ball, deflected by the goalkeeper Campos on the ground, reached the feet of Rodríguez, who came at full speed from behind and took a powerful shot that ended up in the net.
Thanks to the goal, Argentina once again established itself on the field and once again took possession of the ball. They kept looking for Yamila Rodríguez on the sides, who was very fast and overcame the slow pace that the game had in the last minutes. Oliveros stopped a dangerous free kick from Lara in the 36th minute, becoming one of the great figures of the match and key to maintaining the result.
At the end of the game, the actions of the game got dirty, but Argentina kept calm, controlled the game and even had more chances to increase the score. Yamila Rodríguez had the second goal at her feet after a one-on-one with the Chilean goalkeeper who went through her right post.
In this way, Argentina achieved its first official victory in the cycle of Germán Portanova at the helm of the National Team and will prepare in the coming months for the Copa América in Colombia in July, where it was drawn in Group B along with Brazil. , Ecuador, Uruguay and Peru. Before playing the maximum continental tournament, the “Albiceleste” will play two friendlies on the next FIFA date from June 20 to 28, even without a rival or venue to be confirmed.
The highlight of this double date of friendlies was the long-awaited return of Estefanía Banini to the national team, showing the “light blue and white” a much more offensive facet and order in ball control. The Atlético de Madrid player from Mendoza became the axis of the team in the midfield and knew how to be the link between defenders and midfielders.
Synthesis
lineups
Argentina: Laurina Oliveros, Julieta Cruz, Agustina Barroso, Aldana Cometti ©, Eliana Stabile; Romina Núñez, (9′ PT-Yamila Rodriguez), Ruth Bravo (20′ ST-Miriam Mayorga), Daiana Falfán (9′ ST-Sophie Braun), Estefanía Banini (41′ ST-Marianela Symanowski); Florencia Bonsecond and Mariana Larroquette (41′ ST-Erica Lonigro). DT: Sebastian Gomez and Christian Meloni.
Chile: Natalia Campos; Francisca Lara, Karen Araya ©, María José Urrutia, Yessenia López (10′ PT- Yanara Aedo); Daniel Pardo, Daniela Zamora, Geraldine Leyton, Javiera Toro; Camila Sáez and Yastin Jiménez (1′ ST-María Julio). DT: Jose Letelier.
Goals: Yamila Rodríguez (23′ ST-ARG/1-0).
Yellow: Romina Núñez (16 ‘PT-ARG), María José Urrutia (2’ ST-CHI), Aldana Cometti (19 ‘ST-ARG), Yanara Aedo (19’ ST-CHI), Miriam Mayorga (25 ‘ST-ARG) .
Referee: Antonella Alvarez de Olivera (Argentina).
Stadium: Juan Gilberto Funes (La Punta, San Luis, Argentina).
Schedule: 15:40 hs.
Photo: Stefania Leon – AFA Press
By Thomas Rouge
