Michelle Kaufman
Miami Herald
Lionel Messi was not scheduled to play for Argentina Saturday night, but tens of thousands of fans in the sold out Hard Rock Stadium wore his No. 10 jersey to see the Albiceleste play Peru in the final Copa America Group A game.
Argentina had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, and Messi took the game off to recover from an upper right thigh injury with the hopes he can play in the knockout rounds beginning on Thursday in Houston.
Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni was also missing, as he was serving a one-game suspension for taking too long to get his team on the field for the second half of their first two games against Canada and Chile. Scaloni was fined $15,000. Assistant coach Walter Samuel filled in for Scaloni on the Argentina sideline.
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With the quarterfinal berth in hand, Argentina’s coaching staff chose to make major lineup changes against Peru. The only two starters from the previous game were goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and defender Nicolas Tagliafico.
The rest of Argentina’s Starting XI were: Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Gonzalo Montiel, Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Lautaro Martinez, Alejandro Garnacho, and Angel Di Maria, who wore the captain’s armband and has said he will retire from the national team after this Copa America.
Peru’s starters were: Pedro Gallese, Carlos Zambrano, Alexander Callens, Oliver Sonne, Aldo Corzo, Bryan Reyna, Sergio Pena, Wilder Cartagena, Marcos Lopez, Edison Flores and Paolo Guerrero.
Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.
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Publish date : 2024-06-29 20:24:54
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