Rio de Janeiro: Argentina were held 1-1 by Chile despite a spectacular freekick from Lionel Messi on Monday in their Copa America 2021 opener. On the other hand, Brazil registered a dominating win against Venezuela.
Messi’s dominating left foot gave Argentina a deserving lead on 34 minutes before Eduardo Vargas put Chile level in the second half. Even though Argentina dominated the attack Lionel Messi wasn’t a happy man with the result lamenting not having enough control over the ball.
Meanwhile, Argentine head coach Lionel Scaloni said they deserved to win and added that it was just a start of the tournament and sounded really content about his men creating chances. Messi got the first chance, an assist by Leandro Parades, but the Argentine captain shot sent it wide.
Messi’s freekick goal vs Chile from another angle:pic.twitter.com/J3AaoeNGNP
— Messi Worldwide (@Messi_Worldwide) June 14, 2021
Minutes later, Lo Celso sent a cross from left but the desirable finish was denied by Lautaro Martinez. Argentine missed another chance when Nicolas Gonzalez headed over a Messi assist. The Barcelona star final broke the deadlock when he curled a freekick from 25 yards which Bravo had nothing to do.
Chile equalised 13 minutes into the second half when Vargas followed up to head home the rebound after Arturo Vidal’s penalty was tipped onto the bar by Emiliano Martinez. Messi continued to create opportunities until the end of the match, but his teammates showed the same difficulty to deliver goals as they did in the 2-2 draw at Colombia in a World Cup qualifier in Barranquilla last week.
Paraguay too bagged a 3-1 victory over 10-man Bolivia on the day. Erwin Saveedra gave Bolivia the lead in the 10th minute from the spot. Angel Romero scored twice (65th, 80th) while Alejandro Romero got one in 62nd minute. Jaume Cuellar (45+9) got a red card for Bolivia.
