The Messi who put on the Argentina shirt between doubts and criticism is past. Since this summer the Albiceleste lifted the Copa América after 28 years without winning any title, everything is happiness and good vibes in the calls of Scaloni, an environment that of course the results have been accompanying. Therefore, Messi, no longer responsible for proving his worth with Argentina and having removed the weight of scoring his first goal at PSG, arrives at the best time to face the first game of the second round of the qualifying rounds for the Qatar World Cup 2022, a meeting in which Argentina faces Paraguay in Asunción.
And he will do it surrounded by a luxury team. Without penalties or injuries, Scaloni will be able to line up the same eleven that were proclaimed champion in Brazil, with an attack front led by Messi, Di María and Lautaro. Berizzo, current coach of Paraguay, put special emphasis on the priority is to stop the trident if his team wants to have a chance to score. “I have not yet resolved how to stop them, but it is clear that we will have to put in a great defensive effort together. What I'm not going to do is lock the team behind. ” The coach dropped that he will line up two forwards so that Argentina also has “something to worry about.”
The day
In addition to Paraguay-Argentina, this morning another four games will be played. Brazil visits Venezuela in the most unequal match of the qualifiers. The canarinha is first and counts its matches by victories (waiting for CONMEBOL to solve what happens with the suspended Brazil-Argentina) while Venezuela is last and its chances of qualifying for Qatar are almost nil.
ORruguay and Colombia will meet in an exciting duel between the fourth and fifth places that can be decisive for the final classification, while Ecuador should not suffer to beat Bolivia at home. Peru and Chile will close the day.