Without Messi, Argentina Will Have Lautaro And Di Maria

Angel Di Maria (Twitter @argentina)

JAKARTA - The Argentine national team managed to get full points when they played away to Chile in the 2022 World Cup Qualification for the South American zone (CONMEBOL) on Friday, January 28 in the morning WIB. Argentina won 2-1 over the hosts.

In the match at the Estadio Zorros del Desierto, the Argentine national team appeared without their superstar figure, Lionel Messi. Even without a mainstay player, the Albiceleste were still able to bag two goals that ensured victory through the execution of Angel Di Maria in the 10th minute and Lautaro Martinez in the 34th minute.

Appearing without Lionel Messi had made Argentina dogged with doubts. But Lionel Scaloni as the coach of the Albiceleste remains confident in his team's abilities.

#Eliminatorias#DatoAlbiceleste ¡Festeja la #Scaloneta ! @Argentina alarga su invicto a 28 partidos, la mejor racha vigente en el fútbol de selecciones pic.twitter.com/3WWa3rrVTv

— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) January 28, 2022

Scaloni himself with a heavy heart decided not to bring the captain as well as the team's main striker because of his condition. The decision was taken by Scaloni because he considered the impact of COVID-19 which had been experienced by the 34-year-old player.

In addition, the condition of Argentina, which is currently in second place in the standings, is considered safe enough to qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals. Therefore, he chose to rest La Pulga.

"I spoke to him (Lionel Messi) and he told me that COVID-19 has hit him quite hard. This is the key for him to recover and that's why I decided that it was best to let him stay at his club," Scaloni said previously quoted from Marca. .

Apart from the coach's decision not to bring Messi, Argentina itself was able to prove its strength through other players.

With this victory, Argentina remains in second place with a collection of 32 points from 14 matches. This victory helped make La Albiceleste at least unbeaten in the last 15 matches in all competitions.

Meanwhile for Chile, this defeat made them still stuck in seventh place in the CONMEBOL 2022 World Cup Qualification standings with a collection of 16 points from 15 matches. Three points adrift of Uruguay in fourth place which is a safe zone to qualify automatically for Qatar 2022.