Qatar 0-2 Argentina
Argentina strolled into the Copa America quarter finals tonight with a 2-0 win over Qatar at the Arena Do Gremio in Porto Alegro.
Before the game Lionel Messi said that Argentina fully expected to beat Qatar and why wouldn’t he? It wasn’t a walkover by any means. Qatar hit the post with the score at 1-0, but in the end the goals from Lautoro Martinez and Sergio Aguero were enough to see the job through.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has been under some pressure as the Albiceleste struggled in their opening two games, but the first job of qualifying for the quarter finals is completed at last. Felix Sanchez’ Qatar started the game ahead of their opponents on goal difference, but Argentina and Leo Messi are still in the competition and that’s the Copa America news of the weekend!
Highlights of the game
Scaloni’s team was lucky to keep its qualification hopes alive with a point from an unconvincing draw with Paraguay, but they came out with all guns blazing and went ahead on just four minutes. Inter striker Lautoro Martinez found an inch of space in the centre of the box and fired low into the bottom right corner giving Saad Al Sheeb no chance.
Argentina continued to dominate, but when Sergio Aguero fed Giovani Lo Celso on the left side of the box, his shot flew over the bar, and when Aguero gave Lo Celso another chance this time his effort was blocked. As the first half came to a close the Albiceleste pressed hard for a second goal; Nicolas Otamendi met a Leandro Paredes cross but headed narrowly wide and Martinez had a header saved and another shot blocked.
Then, in a first foray into the Argentine half, Almoez Ali passed to Abdelaziz Hatim who saw his shot charged down. And, on the stroke of half time, Argentina had a real fright when Bassam Al Rawi lined up a free kick before hitting the right hand post with his effort.
In the early action of the second half Manchester City star Sergio Aguero took a pot shot from outside the box which Al Sheeb saved, and in response Qatar’s Hatim forced a save from Franco Armani.
At 1-0 Al-Annabi was still in the game, but Argentina continued to search for a crucial second goal; Leandro Paredes crossed and Aguero fired a shot towards the bottom corner but Al Sheeb saved well to keep the game alive. The busy Almoez Ali created a chance for Akram Ali but his effort went wide, but that served as a reminder to Argentina.
And that was enough for the Albiceleste to push on and when Paulo Dybala passed to Aguero, the City hit man fired low into the bottom left hand corner to ease Argentina’s pass into the quarter finals.
Key statistics
Anything other than a first Argentina win would have been a huge shock with the pre-match Qatar vs Argentina betting odds giving an Argentina victory as low as 1.27. Qatar fought hard but the South American’s quality told with goals at either end of the game.
Scaloni’s side totally dominated the first half with 11 shots to two and should have been more than one goal ahead, but were lucky to still be ahead when Al Rawi’s shot crashed against the post.
By the end of the game Argentina won the shot count by 19 to four and had eight shots on target to Qatar’s one. 14 of those shots were from inside the penalty area as Argentina cut deep into the Asian’s defence.
What’s next?
Not everyone has been pleased to see Qatar and Japan in this year’s Copa America, but Japan’s young team has impressed and Qatar has put up a good show, with a draw against Paraguay and competitive games with both Colombia and now Argentina.
But Sanchez’ team is now bowing out, while Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina has finished second in Group B, behind Colombia who has won three for three, beating Paraguay tonight. Argentina need to improve if they are to end their trophy drought, but there were signs tonight that they have the stomach for the fight.
Things are warming up nicely SBOBET Copa America fans; the quarter finals are around the corner, but with the last group games to conclude tomorrow, the Blue Samurai tries to keep their campaign going in a shoot-out with Ecuador, while the two Group C big guns Chile and Uruguay come face to face.
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