Argentina 0-2 Colombia - 3 reasons why Argentina lost the match

Having seen pre-tournament favorites and hosts Brazil lay down their marker at the 2019 Copa America with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bolivia on the opening day, the mantle was handed over to Lionel Messi and co to show what they can do.

Argentina kicked off Group B with a clash against Colombia and they would have been looking to get at least a point against their toughest opponents in the group on paper, but that failed to happen as Los Cafeteros ran out 2-0 victors at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador Brazil.

Heading into the tournament, there were many who wrote off Argentina's chances of triumphing in the competition and having made the worst possible start to the tournament, La Albiceleste now have their work cut out for them. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Argentina lost to Colombia.

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#3 They were disjointed and lacked a clear gameplan

Colombia played with more teamwork than Argentina

In the aftermath of Argentina's dismal performance at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it was expected that wholesome changes would be made and the first of those was the resignation of head coach Jorge Sampaoli, while a number of players also departed the international scene.

In Sampaoli's stead, a certain unheralded Lionel Scaloni was appointed, with the 41-year-old's only prior experience at the top-level coming as an assistant to the man he was replacing.

Since taking charge, Lionel Scaloni has adopted a scatterbrained approach to managing the national side, inviting multiple players to prosecute the three friendlies he took charge of prior to the commencement of the Copa America.

His final 23-man final list for the tournament was sorely lacking in experience, with almost half of the squad having won less than five caps, while for most of them this represented their first time playing at either a major international tournament or with one another.

This lack of chemistry and bonding was evident from the blast of the whistle, as the Argentine players were all over the place, lacking any clear-cut direction and generally played like a team full of strangers.

There seemed to be only one gameplan - get the ball to Messi and get out of his way and the Colombian players figured as much, surrounding the Barcelona man heavily with his every touch of the ball thereby limiting his productivity.

By contrast, Colombia showed their continental neighbors what it meant to be a team, defending solidly, while also maintaining fluidity and coordination in their attacking forays.

Teamwork is extremely important to success in professional sports and on the night, Argentina were sorely lacking in this and as such, it came as no surprise that they lost their opening Copa America match for the first time since 1979.

#2 Colombia took their chances

Duvan Zapata scored with his first touch of the match

While Argentina have every right to be disappointed with their lack of attacking bite over the entirety of the game, there was a brief 15-minute period in the middle of the second half when they were in the clear ascendancy and had Colombia pegged on the back foot.

They created some decent goalscoring chances with Nicolas Otamendi and Leandro Paredes forcing saves from David Ospina in the Colombian goal while Lionel Messi should have done better with a header from a parry by the goalkeeper. During this cameo, Argentina had no less than five shots of which three were on target.

In total, Scaloni's men fired 13 shots at the Colombian goal, having six on target but rather tellingly, none was able to find the back of the net.

By contrast, Colombia did not test Franco Armani in the Argentine goal until the 71st minute when Club America forward Roger Martinez showed great footwork before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the corner. 15 minutes later, Duvan Zapata doubled his nation's lead after a wonderful square ball by Jefferson Lerma to guarantee his side's victory.

In total, Colombia had just eight shots of which two were on target and it is telling that each of their shots on target ended in the back of the net while Argentina had to pay for their profligacy.

#1 Carlos Queiroz showed more tactical acumen

Queiroz brought his managerial experience to the fore

Colombian head coach Carlos Queiroz is a 66-year-old tactically shrewd manager who is one of the most experienced coaches anywhere in the world.

To put this in perspective, when the Portuguese gaffer started his managerial career way back in 1991, his opposite number on the night Lionel Scaloni was yet to make his professional debut as a player, while he also has many years of experience having coached at some of the biggest clubs in the world.

This difference in tactical acumen was brought to the fore in the match, as Queiroz maximized his years of experience to the detriment of Argentina.

During the course of the just concluded season, there were only a handful of forwards who could claim to have been more in form than Duvan Zapata, as the 28-year-old was one of the driving forces behind Atalanta's surprise run in the Serie A, banging 28 goals in all competitions to help La Dea to Champions League qualification as well as the final of the Coppa Italia.

It would have been a no-brainer to start him, but Queiroz kept him on the bench as the ace up his sleeves and brought him on for Radamel Falcao in the 81st minute.

This proved to be a masterstroke, as the former Sampdoria man scored with virtually his first touch of the match just four minutes after coming on.

Queiroz' two other substitutes also played major roles in the match, as Jefferson Lerma provided the assist for Zapata's goal while Roger Martinez opened the scoring on the night.

On his part, Lionel Scaloni took too long to replace the misfiring Sergio Aguero with Matias Suarez, while his two other substitutions in Rodrigo de Paul and Guido Pizarro failed to offer anything significant in the match.