Argentina comfortably defeated Canada 2-0 in the Copa America 2024 semi-finals, punching their ticket to their second consecutive Copa America final.
Messi’s second-half strike was the dagger Argentina needed to advance to the Copa America finals
Lionel Messi broke his Copa America goal drought and Julian Alvarez also found the back of the net as Argentina coasted into Sunday’s tournament final with an relentless 2-0 win over Canada at MetLife Stadium Tuesday night.
We rates Argentina’s players from MetLife Stadium.
GK: Emiliano Martínez – 6/10 – Martinez kept his fourth clean sheet of the tournament tonight, only facing two shots on target.
RB: Gonzalo Montiel – 5/10 – Montiel was a surprise addition to Lionel Scaloni’s starting XI, and did not make much of a case for himself to start in the final. Jacob Shaffelburg used his speed to exploit the right-back and almost all of Canada’s dangerous chances on the counter attack developed along Argentina’s right side.
CB: Cristian Romero – 6/10 – Romero once again was a brick wall at the back for La Albiceleste, helping Emiliano Martinez keep another clean sheet.
CB: Lisandro Martínez – 6/10 – Martinez did his job tonight and minimized Canada’s chances in the final third.
LB: Nicolas Tagliafico – 5/10 – Tagliafico put in another solid performance tonight, but the left-back was also caught out by Richie Laryea numerous times on the left flank.
CM: Rodrigo De Paul – 8/10 – Once again, De Paul had numerous sloppy giveaways in the midfield, but the Atletico Madrid man made up for it by assisting Argentina’s first goal with a perfect pass and he has 9 duels won
CM: Enzo Fernandez – 6/10 – Fernandez was the deepest of Argentina’s three midfielders tonight, often having to drop into the backline to receive the ball to spread the play and kickstart Argentina’s attack. The midfielder recorded an assist tonight on Messi’s goal.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – 6/10 – Cleaned up a lot of mistakes from Argentina’s midfield in the first half. Mac Allister helped Argentina maintain possession and control the game’s tempo. He also did well to track back on defense when called upon.
RW: Angel Di Maria – 5/10 – Di Maria got his first start since Argentina’s opening match of Copa America 2024. The winger was eager to take players on and link up with Messi, but he lacked the end product in the final third.
ST: Julian Alvarez – 7/10 – Alvarez showed his manager why he should start up top for Argentina, scoring their first goal and effectively pressing Canada’s backline to help his team win back possession.
LW: Lionel Messi – 7/10 – Messi looked much more comfortable tonight compared to his performance against Ecuador. The Inter Miami man had plenty of touches, created multiple goalscoring opportunities, and finally found his first goal of the tournament.
SUB:
Nicolas Otamendi – 5/10 – Otamendi came on for Tagliafico since the left-back was in danger of missing the final if he received another yellow card.
SUB: Nahuel Molina – 5/10 – Molina was expected to start tonight, but the right-back only played 19 minutes plus stoppage time.
SUB: Lautaro Martinez – 5/10 – After scoring in his first three matches, Martinez has failed to find a goal in the knockout rounds.
SUB: Nicolas Gonzalez – 5/10 – Gonzalez came on for fresh legs in the midfield in the 78th minute, earning a standard five.
SUB: Exequiel Palacios – 5/10 – In order to give Alexis Mac Allister a break for the last 12 minutes of the match, Palacios made his second appearance of the competition.