Almada makes Argentina feel at ease

Sports Weekly All-Media Special Correspondent Wu Haoyu

Although he has long secured a spot in the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup, he has faced a challenge from his old rival Colombia at home, and Scaloni's Argentina team still plays with all his strength. In the final of the Copa America last year, Argentina struggled to defeat Colombia and won the trophy. The next September game to visit Colombia at home, the Blue and White Army, which lacked Messi, was called a controversial penalty and eventually lost 1-2. This time, when he returned to his home court to face his old opponent, Scarloni said at the pre-match press conference that Messi would return to the starting lineup, and the Argentine captain did appear among the 11 starting players, and the main players in other positions were also played out.

Almada saved the team

at the Hepburn Monument Stadium. Argentina, whose 11 starting players were the main players, seemed very excited after the opening. Messi and Almada made several wonderful cooperations, and Alvarez also made a high-quality long shot. However, Argentina made several threatening attacks, and Colombia's attack also forced Martinez to save several times. In the 23rd minute, the away team took the lead. Louis Dias staged a wonderful score of several players. He broke into the penalty area from the familiar left, almost obliterating Argentina's entire right half defense, and then scored the ball into the dead corner of the goal. Three Argentina World Cup champions, Molina, Romero and Otamendi, all had no choice but to play the Liverpool striker. The last time Colombia broke the Argentine goal away in the World Cup qualifiers dates back to 1993, when the goal was the "Golden Lion King" Valdera.

The backward Argentina team still relies more on Messi's flash. The Argentine captain led most of the team's offenses. Scarloni also made adjustments at the beginning of the second half. Nicolas Gonzalez and Giuliano Simeone replaced Molina and DePaul who performed averagely. However, facing the tenacious defense of Colombia, who was determined to qualify early, the Argentina team still had no choice but to do it. In the 70th minute, Enzo raised his foot too high and was sent directly to the red card. The Blue and White Army could only 10 players to fight. In the 78th minute, Scarloni continued to substitution, and the captain Messi was replaced. At this time, Argentina was defeated by Colombia at home and seemed to be a foregone conclusion. There was a lack of offensive core on the field, and one less player was still fighting. The opponent Colombia's fighting spirit was obviously too strong.

But Argentina's goal came at the seemingly most unlikely moment. Almada broke into the penalty area on the right and shot low. The ball bypassed Colombia's layer by layer of defense and drilled into the bottom left corner of the goal. Argentina finally saved a point at home, but did not allow Colombia to complete the early collision of the line at the Monument Stadium. "Argentina was originally destined to lose at home because everything was not moving towards the team, but the Blue and White Army tied the score at the most unexpected moment, which may be the resilience of the world champion. Although there is no Messi, there is Almada, everything is possible." TYC Sports' post-match commentary article stated.

Scaloni: Messi himself asked to be substituted

After coming on as a substitute in the last game, Messi returned to the Argentina starting lineup in this game. The Argentine captain performed actively in the first half, but as time passed, his performance gradually became silent. Messi's skirmish with Colombia captain James Rodriguez during the game was captured by the camera. According to media disclosure, Messi told James: "You said we got help from the referee in the (Copa America) final, and you talked too much." Javes said: "I didn't say anything."

The cause of this incident is that James had previously talked about the 2024 Copa America final. He said that Colombia failed to win the championship in that competition, largely because of the referee factors. Scaloni replaced Messi in the 78th minute, when Argentina was still behind 0-1 and played one less player on the court. When asked about substitution Messi at the post-match press conference, Scaloni said: "Originally he didn't want to end, but when he saw that we were preparing to make two substitutions, he asked to end, so I replaced him, otherwise he wouldn't end. Everyone knows what I think. Unless I was injured, I wouldn't replace this 8-seater Golden Ball winner."

Scaloni also praised Almada who scored: "For a player, it is a great quality to dare to try. Almada's appearance makes us feel at ease." This is Almada's second consecutive World Cup qualifiers directly participated in the goal. In the last away game against Chile, Almada assisted Alvarez to score the winning goal. He scored the key equalizer again in this game. In March, he played against Uruguay, and Almada also scored the world-class opponent. In 2025, Lyon's attacker has gradually secured his starting position in Argentina. He has started all the last four World Cup qualifiers, including 3 of which directly contributed the winning goals, and he has gradually become an indispensable member of Scaloni's account.

As Scarloni said, Almada dares to try to attack the goal directly, which is the best quality of offensive players. Compared with Giuliano Simeone and Nicholas Gonzalez, Almada also has stronger ability to organize offense and create threats than Giuliano Simeone and Nicholas Gonzalez who are better at running and pressing. At the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup next year, Almada is expected to play the role of Di Maria in the Qatar World Cup final, becoming the most reliable deputy attacker around Messi and Alvarez. Once Messi encounters injury again or is in poor condition, Almada's rise will also make Argentina more at ease and do not have to fall into "Messi dependence".