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Argentina's perilous standing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL Qualifiers took a turn for the worse with a goalless draw against Peru at La Bombanera tonight.
Lionel Messi tried his utmost to create something for Argentina, but the finishing touch escaped him and his teammates, as Peru earned a deserved point. The result leaves 6th placed Argentina needing at least a point away to Ecuador in their final game.
Here are the major talking points from the game
#1 Where have all the goals gone?
10 nations in CONMEBOL - and Argentina have only outscored Bolivia in this qualifying campaign. It is criminal for a nation that can call upon Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Mauro Icardi, Paulo Dybala and Lionel Messi to have faltered so badly.
By the end of the night, the stats for Argentina were damning - they've not scored from their last 73 shots on goal, and the fact that their only goal in the last four qualifying games was an own goal seems barely believable.
You couldn't even blame their strikers for wilting under the pressure - the Argentine FA have fielded these qualifying games in different stadiums with the hope of the 12th man motivating their players, and La Bombanera did not disappoint. Even when Argentina looked frustratingly mediocre for large spells of the game, the raucous atmosphere remained - only for an eery silence to grip the stadium in the last 10 minutes as La Albiceleste threw the kitchen sink.
Hell, an actual kitchen sink might have scored.
#2 Ricardo Gareca outsmarts Jorge Sampaoli
El Tigre was his moniker during his playing days, and while it was Sampaoli who paced about like a caged tiger tonight, Peru boss Ricardo Gareca looked satisfied for much of the night with his team's performance. Putting aside their defensive output, what was impressive about Peru's performance was their tactical shape.
Sampaoli started the game with his favoured double-pivot of Lucas Biglia and Ever Banega, with the hope that, they'd be free to dictate play as Messi was man-marked. Instead, Gareca opted against man-marking Messi and instead focused his three-man midfield to swarm Biglia and Banega, forcing Argentina to either go back or spread it wide.
Jefferson Farfan and Edison Flores were auxiliary fullbacks, making plenty of defensive contributions in addition to the rare foray forward. Peru came here for a draw, and for a side that has the fourth-worst defensive record in CONMEBOL qualifying, keeping out the might of Messi and co. was nothing short of impressive.
#3 A World Cup without Lionel Messi... and it may be his own fault
This isn't hyperbole - Argentina face the very real prospect of not even making the playoff spot, as they are 6th in the standings. A win would do nicely for them, but the last time the Albiceleste beat Ecuador in an away game was in 2001 - Quito's altitude doesn't tend to bring out the best of the Argentines.
It's harsh to criticize Leo Messi tonight - he drove his team forward for much of the game and created a fair number of chances, but that was perhaps the entire problem itself.
Jorge Sampaoli's reasoning for dropping the in-form Paulo Dybala was that it would allow Messi to be closer to the box, in goal-scoring areas. Instead, Messi dropped deep for much of the game, very reminiscent of his performances for Luis Enrique's final year at Barcelona - and the end result was a goalless draw.
Had the Argentine been forced to play closer to goal, he'd have definitely finished off at least 1 chance - which could come back to haunt him and deny him his final World Cup in his peak years.
#4 Unbreakable Miguels
Miguel Araujo and Miguel Trauco were nigh on impenetrable in defence for Peru tonight, and to look at them, you would have considered them seasoned, typically canny, South-American defenders. Instead, the duo have just 23 caps for the national team between them, with this being only the 5th cap Araujo has picked up.
The 22-year-old Araujo was drafted in to replace the suspended Christian Ramos, and ought to keep his place for the final game. He was always at hand to stop Messi from bursting through into the box if his defence failed him. A number of times Araujo slid in to block Messi from unleashing a long-range effort, and perhaps this performance ought to ensure that a big club takes a chance on this talented youngster.
Alongside him, Miguel Trauco was unbeatable in the fullback position, and prevented two certain goals - once to deny Rigoni's shot from hitting the back of the net, and before that, the most imperceptible of touches to poke Messi's shot onto the post just as the second half resumed. Trauco could have even grabbed an assist had Jefferson Farfan brought his shooting boots tonight, but overall the defender was probably Peru's best player tonight.
#5 A night of errors from Jorge Sampaoli
First, the lineup.
Sampaoli knew Peru would come here for a draw. The wisdom of two defensive midfielders in midfield evades me. However, the most egregious error is the fact that Sampaoli has no idea of who his best #9 is - In the last 5 games, 4 strikers (Gonzalo Higuain, Lucas Pratto, Mauro Icardi and Dario Benedetto) have been used.
As it turned out, Sampaoli opted to use a player making his first ever start for Argentina, instead of you know, Mauro Icardi or Paulo Dybala.
Second, the substitutions.
I think Fernando Gago would rather have been spared the agony of making his comeback to the national side after years, only to then rupture his ACL 5 minutes after coming on. All this, when Argentina were in desperate need of a goal, not to see out the rest of the game.
Third, his post-match comments.
"Today was a very good performance, we just missed the goal. I am very hopeful and excited about what will come next."
He's got a call from Bayern Munich, hasn't he?
