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Once again, Argentina have gone into a tournament with more questions than answers. La Albiceleste kicked off their Copa America 2021 campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Chile on Monday evening in Rio de Janeiro.
Lionel Scolani’s side made a strong start to the game but saw their energy levels fizzle out as the match wore on. That allowed Chile to get back into the game and eventually earn a draw.
Not many countries can boast of the wealth of talent Argentina possess or a talisman as good as Lionel Messi. But it has been for quite some time La Albiceleste have underperformed in major tournaments.
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Year after year and tournament after tournament, they assemble great squads but always falter when it matters most. Against Chile, the story was no different.
Lionel Messi stunner not enough for La Albiceleste
Lionel Messi has often been criticised for failing to lead his country to a major trophy, but the Barcelona star was on top of his game against Chile.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was at his creative best and did all he could to inspire his team to a win. In the 33rd minute, he scored a wonderful free-kick to give Argentina the lead.
However, that was not enough to earn La Albiceleste the win, as no other Argentina player rose to the fore. A one-man team can only go as far, but a team built on the collective always has a better chance of winning a tournament like the Copa America.
And that was amply evident once Chile kicked into gear. La Roja got their equaliser early in the second half after winning a penalty. Arturo Vidal saw his kick saved by Emiliano Martinez, but Eduardo Vargas reacted quickest to score from the rebound.
It’s not as if Messi’s goal was his only contribution in the game. The 33-year-old dropped deep to create chances for his teammates, but they couldn’t make anything meaningful out of them. Eventually, his goal was not enough, but this time Messi could not be blamed for Argentina's failure to win.
Argentina’s old problems resurface
The decision to strip Argentina of the hosting rights of Copa America 2021 at the last minute may have come as a big blow, but the bigger concern lies with their insipid performances.
La Albiceleste failed to win their last two matches before their Copa America 2021 opener against Chile. Interestingly, in both those games, they took the lead only to squander that and ended up drawing.
Scolani has spoken at length about this 'problem' and said that Argentina had worked to ensure such a thing wasn’t going to repeat itself at Copa America 2021.
However, the same old problems resurfaced against Chile. Argentina simply cannot seem to hold onto a lead or even build on that. A failure to solve this issue could see them suffer yet another heartbreak at a major tournament.
