So yes, we had the Gold Cup. Well I'm sorry CONCACAF fans, but the Gold Cup is the red headed step child to the Copa America. The Gold Cup was the appetizer, but the Copa is the main course for international soccer this summer. After the Copa, everyone will pretty much head back to Europe to get ready for the new club season starting in August.
Argentina is hosting this years event, and conventional wisdom was that they would pound Bolivia into submission in this opening fixture of group A. Well, sometimes conventional wisdom sucks. That's why they actually play the match.
Seemed like both teams had some issues getting their legs underneath them in the first half. The temp at game time was just above freezing. Messi looked cold, tucking his hands up inside the long sleeves of his jersey. Argentina controlled the possession, but you could see that Bolivia's game plan was to get underneath the skin of their hosts, and they accomplished that very well. The yellow cards flew, and even Messi got in on the chippyness.
Unfortunately, despite all their possession, Argentina couldn't capitalize by getting chances. They came close when the Bolivian keeper fumbled a shot, leaving a rebound for Cambiasso, but in the end he couldn't find the target either. The half ended more like a grudge match, 0-0.
Argentina knew they needed to come out with something different in the 2nd half. They subbed in DiMaria for Cambiasso. However, before the Real Madrid man could make his mark on the match, Bolivia scored off an own goal following the corner kick, with an Argentina defender stomping the ball in the near post corner, 0-1 to the visitors.
One would think that might wake Argentina up, but not yet. Bolivia had another good chance later, but they couldn't beat the Argentina keeper 1 on 1, and the match stayed at 0-1. Finally Argentina clawed back. Messi hit a free kick that Aguero managed to get on the end of and smack home to equalize at 1-1. However, they never mustered a huge threat again and the match finished at a draw.
Certainly Bolivia will take the draw. They were totally gassed by the end of the match. It was a big disappointment for Argentina though, they did not look good. Even Messi only had a couple of moments. They're going to need to tighten up the defense and finish in the final third, or they're not gonna have a prayer. Let's see what they can do before the next match.
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