Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
Argentina's midfield was changed again for this match, with Enzo Fernández, De Paul, and Allister playing in the midfield, Messi, Alvarez, and Di Maria together in the forward line, Lautaro Martinez was put away, and Romero was sent out again in place of Lisandro Martinez at the back.
(Both teams start)
Poland wants to hit Argentina's counterattack, but this time Argentina's midfield control is quite stable, Enzo Fernández's control in the middle is good, Allister presses forward to let Alvarez free to push into the penalty area, Messi stays in the periphery to carry out passes, Di Maria mainly plays on the right side, but also switches to the left side, Argentina basically plays the right side of the attack! Molina pressed forward, De Paul also leaned towards the right side of the road, the two of them and Di Maria on this side of the smooth transmission so that Argentina's right side has always been able to enter the Polish side of the road.
Lewandowski has been trying to attack on the right, but the high activity of Acuña on the Argentine left has led to a densely packed area, while on the other side, the Argentine right has been pressing Poland's left, so Poland is equivalent to both Frankowski and Zielinski on both flanks, and even if Zielinski is on the same side as him, it's difficult to form a link with him. Even if Zielinski and Lewandowski are on the same side, it's difficult to form a connection.
Poland actually wanted to fight for a goal so that there was basically a good chance of being able to
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At this time, the state of Poland is the first in the group, so in the face of Argentina's attack, Poland will immediately launch a counter-attack after blocking, but in this way Poland's own formation is not very good, for Argentina is actually also conducive to their attack, because the players back to the defense will be more or less out of position, Messi and Alvarez and Di Maria and others in fact have the space to get the ball!
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
At the 35:00 mark, Alvarez took the ball and moved to the left side of the field, Messi came up from the far side of the field and tried to take the ball, Poland's keeper Szczesny missed the ball but hit Messi. The referee confirmed the VAR and called a 12-yard penalty, but Szczesny made a good save to keep Messi out of the 12-yard box.
Argentina missed the chance to take the lead, but the bigger picture didn't change, it was still Argentina controlling the field on offense, and then Argentina kept moving in the right side of the box and passing into the center of the field, Poland defended quite hard.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
Argentina took the lead at the start of the second half when Molina teamed up with DiMaria, Molina made space and played a ground ball from the right into the penalty area, Allister ran to the center of the field and fired a shot from 13 yards out, the Polish center backs Glik and Kiwior couldn't close the door in time, and Szczesny seemed to have missed the tackle, resulting in a slow rolling ball into the far corner of the net. The ball rolled slowly into the far corner of the net.
After the goal, Argentina's pressure was reduced and they immediately replaced Di Maria and Acuña with Tagliafico and Paredes. With Paredes at the back, Enzo Fernández was freed up to go forward, and at 66:00, Enzo Fernández suddenly took the ball into the penalty box under siege and handed the ball to Alvarez, who fired a 14-yard shot into the far corner. Enzo Fernández then handed the ball to Alvarez, who fired a 14-yard shot from the left into the far corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
Poland was much more conservative after that because they had to keep their goal difference, Argentina also replaced Enzo Fernández and Alvarez in the 79th minute and ended the game with a 2-0 victory, on the other hand, Mexico was chased by Saudi Arabia with a late goal to make it 2-1, Mexico finally lost to Poland on goal difference and was eliminated from the group, while Argentina won the first place in the group and Poland the second place in the group. Second in the group
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Argentina in
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After that, they will face Australia in the round of 16, which is a relatively weak opponent. With the performance of Argentina in the third game, it seems that they should be able to win in the face of Australia, followed by a very likely match against the Netherlands in the round of eight, and then it will be a real battle of life and death.
World Cup Report
World Cup First Round Report - England 6-2 Iran, Netherlands 2-0 Senegal
World Cup First Round - Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
World Cup First Round - Brazil 2-0 Serbia
World Cup Second Round Report - Argentina 2-0 Mexico
World Cup Second Round Report - Spain 1-1 Germany
World Cup Final Round Report - England 3-0 Wales
World Cup Final Round - Argentina 2-0 Poland