“Gonna be the worst player” - Fans furious as Argentina name 26-year-old with Lionel Messi in line-up vs Chile at Copa America 2024

Fans were unhappy as Nicolas Gonzalez was named alongside Lionel Messi in Argentina's starting XI for their ongoing clash against Chile at Copa America 2024. The match is taking place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Gonzalez, 26, made his senior debut for La Albiceleste in 2019 and has netted five goals in 34 appearances for his nation.

Fans took to social media to express their disappointment with Gonzalez's inclusion in Argentina's starting line-up against Chile. While some fans criticized head coach Lionel Scaloni's decision and believed there were better options in the squad, others were doubtful about the Fiorentina forward's potential contribution to the game.

Here are some reactions on X:

One fan wrote:

"Nico gonna be the worst player on the field, bench the guy already"

Another added:

"If Nico has another disaster game I never hope to see him again, now or never for Nico"

"wtf why Nico why 😡😡😡😡," chimed in another fan.

One account posted:

"Can't wait to see Messi giving beautiful through balls only for Gonzalez to mess them all up."

Another said:

"Waste like 20 clean chances before scoring."

"LOL nico 😂 garnacho should start, nico benched," posted another.

One user wrote:

"Waking up all night to see nico Gonzalez 🥶. Please bench that guy."

While another wrote:

"How much is Nico paying Scaloni ? We’d double that amount for him not to play again"

Argentina are the joint-most successful team at Copa America with Uruguay, with both nations winning the title 15 times each.

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Jesse Marsch praised Lionel Messi following Canada's Copa America 2024 opener against Argentina

Canada head coach Jesse Marsch hailed Lionel Messi following his performance against the former's team in the 2024 Copa America opener. The Argentina captain contributed to the world champions' 2-0 win over Canada with an assist.

In the post-match conference, Marsch spoke about Messi's impact on the game and said (via FotMob):

"Yeah, with Messi, we talked a lot about our compactness and then identifying the spaces that he likes to show up in, we talked about not diving in because it's hard to win tackles from him. What happens is if you eliminate yourself or if you start diving in for tackles, he's really good slipping and moving and getting back again and making little final plays."

"This is what I say about Messi: I have coached against him several times and I feel like we have had a good match plan and we have executed a lot of good things. But he is so good, he is that good that he still makes plays. The two balls he makes on the two goals I think are world class. Amazing, it's awful. It's amazing," added Marsch.

Argentina, along with Chile, Canada, and Peru, are in Group A of the 2024 Copa America.