In the absence of Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María took the baton in Argentina to beat Chile 1-2 in Calama

Argentina, without Lionel Messi and enduring the altitude of Calama in a good way, defeated Chile 2-1, which was left with one foot out of the Qatar-2022 World Cup in the match played this Thursday for the South American qualifier.

La Albiceleste, already qualified for Qatar, achieved victory thanks to goals from strikers Ángel Di María after 10 minutes and Lautaro Martínez (34), while Chile scored through attacker Ben Brereton (21).

With a great performance by Di María, who took on the responsibility of managing the team in the absence of Messi, Argentina had a correct performance, almost without suffering the 2,400-meter altitude of Calama, controlling the game with power and good touch on the ball, and defending neatly when the physique of the Argentines was affected, already in the final stretch of the game.

“It is important to win without Messi. When he is there, everything is much easier. By not being there, we have to divide the strength, the quality, everything”, said Di María, after concluding the lawsuit.

For Chile it was a presentation to be forgotten, without depth or order, much needed to achieve a victory that was urgent to still have hope of reaching Qatar, but three games from the end of the World Cup, the die seems cast for the Red.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjIeNq6xIsI

Next Tuesday, Argentina will receive Colombia, while Chile will play its last options in the 3,600-meter altitude of La Paz where it will face Bolivia.

“I am disappointed, it will be difficult to travel to Bolivia. I am sad about this loss,” Brereton said.

input Argentina

Despite the fact that the match began with a determined Chile to look for the rival goal, after a counterattack from the right sector, the always dangerous Di María -star of the night- beat his marker and without a mark he scored a spectacular shot that slipped into the Chilean goal despite Claudio Bravo’s stretch.

The Chilean response came 11 minutes later, with more enthusiasm than football, after a weak rejection by the Albiceleste defense, the Chilean Marcelino Núñez put the ball into the area until Ben Brereton jumped, who with a powerful front beat the poor opposition of goalkeeper Martínez , marking the tie.

But the night at the Zorros del Desierto stadium was for Argentina and the height of Calama had more effect on Chile. After a strong shot from midfielder De Paul, the ball took on an unexpected force that goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was unable to deflect to one side, giving up a rebound in the area that Lautaro Martínez took advantage of in the face of no reaction from the Chilean defense.

Before the second Argentine goal, Bravo had shown discomfort that did not allow him to continue in the match, so he was replaced by Bryan Cortés.

The Chilean debacle

For the second stage, the Uruguayan Martín Lasarte sent Mauricio Isla to the field, who was finally able to play after overcoming a case of covid-19, and forward Joaquín Montecinos to achieve depth in the attack that Chile showed so little, but the team The Argentine stood in midfield and despite showing fatigue, they managed to stop the Chilean onslaught.

A header again from Brereton could have become a draw, but a great save from Martínez left the game in a fair 2-1 for an Argentine team that did not have Messi, nor its coach Lionel Scaloni due to the pandemic and some infected players and injured.

While Argentina -the last champion of the Americas- reaches 32 units in the qualifying rounds and has gone 28 games without defeat, Chile remains at 16 units, jeopardizing its chances of getting a ticket to Qatar and what seems like a sad farewell for its golden generation of football players. (D)