Argentina, ‘super champion’: the Albiceleste won overwhelmingly in the Finalissima against Italy (3-0), in a duel between the champions of South America and Europe played this Wednesday at London’s Wembley stadium.
Lautaro Martínez (minute 28) and Ángel Di María (45+1) left the mission already well on track in the first half.
In the second the Argentine dominance was almost total and Paulo Dybala (90+4), who had just entered the game, crowned the night with the third.
Argentina, lethal
Argentina also broke its official record for consecutive games without losing, raising the streak to 32 and leaving behind the equality of 31 that it had with the team led by Alfio Basile and that achieved that mark between 1991 and 1993.
This Finalissima revived the Conmebol-UEFA intercontinental duels, which had been played in 1985 and 1993 as the Artemio Franchi Cup. In the 1993 edition, Argentina, then captained by Diego Maradona, had already been champions.
For Italy, a team still sore from being left out of the World Cup in March, the defeat has a bitter taste, as it occurred in the stadium precisely where they won the European Championship last year and, above all, by not being able to allow their captain Giorgio Chiellini, who played only the first half, lifting the trophy on the day he was playing his 117th and last game for the Nazionale.
At the start of the match, Argentina came out with more revolutions and showing their hyper-motivation, although the first important occasions of the match were for the Italians Giacomo Raspadori (12) had the first shot between the three posts and in the 20th Nicolás Tagliafico saved the Albiceleste by providentially cutting off a death pass from Federico Bernardeschi to Andrea Belotti.
That last one, with a header in minute 21, put the reflexes of goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to the test. Messi then led the awakening of his team, first with a long shot (26) that was cleared by an Azzurro defender from a corner kick, and then with a shot in the area that his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Gianluigi stopped without major complications. Donnarumma (27).
On the next play, after a steal by Giovani Lo Celso, the Argentines had the attack that opened the scoring: Messi, from the left side, sent a low pass into the center of the area, where Lautaro Martínez (28) pushed the network of the European champion. It hurt Italy, despite its attempts to react, and it was even more badly injured when on the edge of the break an unexpected second blow came: Lautaro Martínez beat Leonardo Bonucci and found a pass into the gap to leave Di María facing face against Donnarumma, whom he overcame with a small lob from the edge of the small area.
Messi, insistent
In the second half, Italy never gave a feeling of being able to come back and Argentina came with much more fluidity. Di María, first with a cross shot (60) and then with a volley from the edge of the area (62), was met by saves from Donnarumma.
In minute 64, a new dangerous pass in the area by Messi was about to bring another goal, but Lo Celso sent it to the side of the net. Messi wanted a goal to round off the night and he insistently searched for it.
In just a few moments he chained three occasions (64, 65, 69), two of them with long shots and in all of them without success against the Italian goalkeeper, who avoided a scandalous win. In the final discount, Messi provided the assistance for the final 3-0, which Dybala turned into a perfect end to the party.
After the celebration, Argentina will face a friendly against Estonia on Sunday in Pamplona (Spain), while Italy will not have time to heal their wounds, since on Saturday against Germany they begin their journey in the UEFA Nations League.
AFP
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