Argentina‘s Copa America ambitions are tied to a thread, as the country must necessarily win on Sunday evening to reach the quarter-finals. Opponent is Qatar, which does surprisingly well at the South American country tournament.
Qatar:
Like almost every other football fan, I would have preferred a different host country for the 2022 World Cup than Qatar, but the Arabs have managed to get a very nice team going. Led by former FC Barcelona youth coach Felix Sanchez, the oil state managed to surprise itself earlier this year by crowning itself as an Asian champion, and the country also performed remarkably well on this Copa America. In the first group match against Paraguay, Qatar showed mental resilience by fighting back to a 2-2 draw after a 2-0 deficit. Also against Colombia, which was considered much stronger, the country remained afloat for a long time, but goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb had to surrender just before time to an effort from Colombia-striker Duvan Zapata.
So Qatar is certainly not the door that everyone expected. That’s great, especially when you consider that all players are still active in their own country. The entire selection of the Qatari is worth less than the little toe of Lionel Messi, although there are indeed some rough diamonds in the Sanchez team. The 22-year-old striker Almoez Ali in particular is someone to keep an eye on. In the past, adventures at LASK Linz and Cultural Leonesa turned out to be unsuccessful, but this year he is working hard. Ali was no less than nine times accurate in the AFC Asian Cup, where he was also named the best player of the tournament. He also scored his goal in this Copa America, in the match against Paraguay.
Argentina:
For Argentina it is Sunday evening or the gladiolus. After the 0-2 defeat against Colombia and the 1-1 draw against Paraguay, Messi and associates must necessarily win to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Copa America. If the country succeeds, La Albiceleste will finish in second place, or become one of the best numbers three – depending on the result in the other group match between Colombia and Paraguay. In third place, there is a good chance that Argentina will compete in the quarter-finals against its eternal arch-rival Brazil.
Anyway, it is not nearly there yet. After all, there will first have to be won from Qatar, and that is certainly not an easy task. With Messi, of course, Argentina has the very best player on the planet, but the problem is that the rest of the team can’t do much about it. The game is similar to that at the World Cup last year. The Argentines do dominate, but because the construction is very slow and predictable, well-played opportunities are scarce. National coach Lionel Scaloni, however, knows that it must happen on Sunday evening and opts for a very offensive variant. Paulo Dybala and Sergio Agüero are likely to form the attack, with Messi in their backs. Furthermore, the attacking Giovani lo Celso and Leandro Paredes must ensure a smooth build-up with their creativity.
