ANALYSIS – Argentina wins a thrilling game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was not easy though, as the centre-backs of Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius and the goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau, played extremely well. However, a lack of finishing from Canada did result in Argentina taking all three points as they showed their class on Thursday.
Argentina Wins Thrilling Copa América Opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
CanMNT Did Not Convert On Their Scoring Opportunities
The Canadians had 10 shots, but only two on target. There were some big chances Canada had but did not take advantage of. This included:
- Cyle Larin set up the play as Stephen Eustaquio’s header from very close range went straight to the keeper, and Alphonso Davies’ shot from inside the box was off-target in the 42nd minute.
- Jacob Shaffelburg delivered a fantastic cross into the box to Jonathan David, who was not able to convert with his header, that was off-target.
- In the 30th minute, Tajon Buchanan could have passed the ball to David for a dangerous scoring opportunity, but instead, shot the ball wide.
Yes, there were some instances where Argentina played fantastic defence. One instance was when Larin was charging towards goal, but the number 13 of Argentina, Cristian Romero, made a goal-saving tackle inside the box to prevent Larin from scoring. However, in all the other instances Canada did not take advantage of their scoring opportunities as the game felt a bit like the Belgium game in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Passing Does Need Improvement for Canada
There did not seem to be purpose with some of the Canadian passes in the game against Argentina. Also, while Argentina was not really able to capitalize on that, it forced Canada to defend more and gave them less opportunities to be in Argentina’s end of the field. A lot of these mistakes came from errors from Davies, and Liam Millar, as their passes almost led to goals. The examples include:
- Canada delivered a bad pass in the 35-minute.
- Ismaël Koné’s pass that was intercepted late in the game almost led to a turnover.
While these are just two examples, there were many more examples of Canada struggling to pull together good passes. Now, there was also the quality of Argentina, which will be discussed at length, but the Canadian passing does need to improve for games coming up.
Argentina Was Able To Get Behind Canada’s Defence With Fantastic Passing
Time and time again, Argentina was able to get behind the CanMNT’s defence. They did this with their sublime and accurate passes, which led to their two goals.
- The first goal happened because of Lionel Messi’s pass to Alexis Mac Allister. It looked like Crepeau fouled Mac Allister inside the box and could have been called a penalty if they did not score straight afterward. Unfortunately, for Canada, Julián Álvarez was first to the ball and converted the scoring opportunity.
- The second goal was scored when Messi delivered a perfectly timed pass to Lautaro Martínez, who put the ball between Crepeau’s legs and into the back of the net.
There were many other instances when Argentina did this but was unable to capitalize and/or the CanMNT centre-backs and goalkeeper stepped up. This included big chances for Alvarez to score just before the end of the first half and there was also a big chance for Messi to seal the deal late in the game.
The CanMNT Centre-Backs and Goalkeeper Stood Out
The one big positive to take from this game for Canada was their centre-backs and goalkeeping. They all performed well on the day and should be given their props. Some examples include:
- Bombito on a few occasions cleared the ball at crucial times and had great chemistry with Derek Cornelius.
- Cornelius made some game-saving plays, including most notably stopping Messi from scoring after getting a shot past Crepeau.
Finally, there is Crepeau, who was forced to make seven saves for his national team. He also had to be alert and assertive at times and came forward to prevent Argentina from getting great scoring opportunities. The player of the match in the opinion of this writer is either Cornelius or Crepeau, but the writer will go with Cornelius on this particular game. Also, to add to this, this is what the Canadian men’s soccer head coach, Marsch, said about the game (Source: Paul Tenorio of The Athletic):
Also, Davies feels like there can be improvement within the team that is needed (Source: The Guardian):
“We have to change our attitude towards the game,” he told Canadian broadcaster TSN. “The first half we played well, but in the second half, we let every long ball bounce. It was a disappointing result, we need to look at everything we did wrong in the game and fix it as soon as possible.”
There was also a foul on TFC player, Shaffelburg. After closer inspection, while it was not a penalty, it should have been a free kick in Canada’s favour. It may not have played a factor in shaping the result of the game, but it is something that needs to be noted.
Lastly, to comment on the situation with Bombito experiencing racism from online comments is unacceptable, and is the one thing that should not happen in the game of soccer.
Also, Davies feels like there can be improvement within the team that is needed (Source: The Guardian):
“We have to change our attitude towards the game,” he told Canadian broadcaster TSN. “The first half we played well, but in the second half, we let every long ball bounce. It was a disappointing result, we need to look at everything we did wrong in the game and fix it as soon as possible.”
There was also a foul on TFC player, Shaffelburg. After closer inspection, while it was not a penalty, it should have been a free kick in Canada’s favour. It may not have played a factor in shaping the result of the game, but it is something that needs to be noted.
Lastly, to comment on the situation with Bombito experiencing racism from online comments is unacceptable, and is the one thing that should not happen in the game of soccer.
Games Coming Up For Both Teams
READ MORE: 2024 Copa América CanMNT Roster Reveal: Ugbo Not in The Lineup
For Canada, this was always going to be the most difficult of the three games they had to play. A result would have meant a lot to the national team, but still, they can get out of this group, depending on how they play in their next two games. They will now play Chile at 6:00pm ET at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas on June 25 and finish off the group stage against Chile at 8:00pm ET at Inter&Co Stadium, in Orlando, Florida on June 29.
This is while for Argentina, they will face Chile at 9:00pm ET on June 25 and Peru on June 29 at 8:00pm ET. All four of these games will be shown TSN/RDS, with a lesser likelihood of it being shown on TSN+. The game against Chile will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey while the game against Peru will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Canada now sits last in their group as Peru and Chile drew against each other on Friday.
Photo Credit: Canada Soccer EN X Account and the Canada Soccer FR X Account on June 20, 2024.
