Argentina capable of defending their crown

The Copa America gets underway in less than a week’s time with its contenders putting the final touches on their preparations for the tournament in the United States.  

Before the first ball is kicked in Atlanta, Argentina have been dupped the favourites and with good reason, as La Albiceleste have won the last three tournaments they have competed in and the results have not slowed down in the meantime.  

This peaked in Qatar in December 2022 as Argentina became World Cup champions for the third time. Before that they picked up the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions at Wembley in 2021 with a 3-0 victory over Italy, with this run starting in the same year, beating Brazil 1-0 on their own turf in the final of the last edition of the Copa America.  

This will place a target on Lionel Scaloni’s team’s backs throughout, but with La Scaloneta on a role, can they be stopped?  

Previous Copa America finish  

Argentina were winners of the 2020 edition of the Copa America, which was played in Brazil in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Winning this trophy was huge for the current group of players as it was Lionel Messi’s first with his national team and it gave Scaloni’s side the confidence and belief to go on and achieve what they have since. 

Argentina topped their group which contained Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia; winning three of their group phase matches and drawing the other against Chile. It was here that La Albiceleste made their intentions for the competition known and they got better as the tournament progressed.  

Lionel Messi and friends would defeat Ecuador 3-0 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Colombia on penalties in the semis. That set up the final everyone wanted as an Angel Di Maria goal would see Argentina crowned champions by beating Brazil at the historic Maracanã Stadium. 

Argentina squad  

On May 20, Scaloni named a 29-man squad for Argentina’s pre-tournament friendlies against Ecuador and Guatemala, which…

Source link : https://www.caughtoffside.com/2024/06/14/copa-america-argentina/

Author : Darren Looney

Publish date : 2024-06-14 19:54:34

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