There were a lot more at stake for Chile, still far from qualifying for the World Cup, than for argentina, who has already validated his ticket for Qatar in November. But it was the Albiceleste who won on the lawn of Chile (2-1), a score already acquired at the break, on the night of Thursday to Friday in Calama.
Angel Di Maria, author of a very fine performance and wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of his teammate at PSG, Lionel Messi, who stayed in Paris, opened the scoring with a magnificent curling shot from the left foot, one of his “specials”. We played the 10th minute and the assist was signed by De Paul. Ben Brereton certainly quickly equalized for Chile (20th), but Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez allowed the Argentines to win (34th).
Yellow card for Paredes
The defensive midfielder Leandro Paredes, the other Parisian, like Di Maria played the whole match, picking up a yellow card in the 72nd minute. While the coach, Lionel Scaloni, was not on the bench since he was positive for Covid-19.
Angel Di Maria, who now totals 23 goals in 119 selections, was obviously satisfied, as he opened up to the local media. “We are happy, said the Parisian in particular. We played a very good game, we knew it was going to cost us because of the altitude. There was also the trip, we arrived and spent a lot of time at the airport, with the problems and everything… The important thing is that we got the victory, the group is still strong. We continue to grow match following match. Today, we were missing the best player in the world, the coach was not there. Victory is for them too. »
In addition, Uruguay having won 1-0 in Paraguay thanks to the 65th goal in 128 selections from Luis Suarez (50th), the Celeste goes back to 4th place, while waiting for Colombia – Peru, this Friday evening (10 p.m. ) and to get back into the race for qualification. Chile, downgrades to 7th place.