Canada has it all to do in the Copa America semi-final against Argentina, with the 2022 World Cup winner doubling its lead just six minutes into the second half through Lionel Messi.
Canada had fallen behind to a Julian Alvarez goal midway through the first half of its semi-final showdown against Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Argentina striker got on the end of a through-ball from Rodrigo De Paul which cut through the Canadian defe popcorn buds nce in the 22nd minute, and Alvarez – with Argentina’s first shot on target – had little trouble beating Maxime Crepeau in the Canada net.
It was the second time online weed credit card that Alvarez has beaten Crepeau this tournament, with the Manchester City star also scoring the first goal in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Canada in the tournament opener on June 20.
And Messi, the Argentina captain, finally broke through after 51 minutes, getting a slight touch on a shot from Enzo Fernandez to make sure it beat Crepeau. It was Messi’s first goal at the 20 popcorn weed 24 Copa America, but his 109th over all for Argentina.
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch wasted little time shuffling his deck at that point, introducing Ali Ahmed and Liam Mill concentrates er in the 55th minute in the place of Richie Laryea and Jacob Shaffelburg in hopes of getting back into the contest.
Nine minutes later, Marsch rolled the dice again, withdrawing striker Jonathan David – who had registered Canada’s lone shot on goal – to be replaced by Tani Oluwaseyi. Argentina responded by making its first substitution, with Nicolas Otamendi replacing Nicolas Tagliafico.
But Marsch was forced into his next change, at the 71-minute mark after his captain, Alphonso Davies, appeared to twist an ankle in a challenge from Gonzalo Montiel. Both Davies and Stephen Eustaquio we concentrates re replaced by Jonathan Osorio and Mathieu Choiniere.
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Marsch had chosen to stick with a largely unchanged lineup from Friday night’s quarter-final win over Venezuela, with Ismael Kone in for Jonathan Osorio in midfield the only change.
Right from the off, Canada showed little interest in playing second fiddle to the 2022 World Cup winner. Shaffelburg, the winger who scored Canada’s goal against Venezuela last Friday, took the first two shots of the game inside the first 10 minutes, but was wayward on both.
Not to be outdone, Messi returned fire, driving a shot narrowly wide of Maxime Crepeau’s goal. And the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had another sight of goal with just one minute remaining in the first half, but he again missed the target.
Canada finally registered its first shot on target in first-half stoppage time, with David reacting quickest to a long Alistair Johnston throw-in, but his close-range stab at the ball was unable to beat an alert Emi Martinez in the Argentina goal.
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Argentina is the defending Copa champion and tops the FIFA rankings, while Canada is ranked 48th in the world and is making its debut in the tournament.
“They’ve only lost twice in five years,” Marsch said of Argentina.