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Argentina were beaten 2-0 by a counter-attacking Colombian side in the opening fixture of Group B at the Itaipava Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, Brazil. Club America striker Roger Martinez opened the scoring for La Tricolor in the 71st minute with a splendid long ranger from the edge of the box.
The Liga MX striker was only on the pitch due to an injury-enforced substitution to Fiorentina striker Luis Muriel in the 14th minute. 24-year-old Martinez looked lively as soon as he came on and capped off a splendid performance on the left side of the Colombian attack with a fine solo goal.
The match failed to open up till Colombia scored the first goal in the 71st minute. Challenges came thick and fast in a bruising encounter, with the bulk of the match confined to midfield battles.
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Colombian manager Carlos Queiroz refused to rest on the 1-0 lead, throwing in Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata in for Radamel Falcao in the 81st minute.
The Serie A striker grabbed the opportunity with both hands, running onto a superb cross from Jefferson Lerma to smash the ball past Argentine goalkeeper Armani in the 87th minute.
Colombia completed a fantastic display with two counter-attacking goals that caught Argentina completely by surprise.
#5 Angel Di Maria and Guido Rodriguez have terrible games
Lionel Scaloni's experimental starting lineup failed to click in the first half as the Albiceleste found it extremely hard to break down a well-drilled Colombia.
Club America defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez did not look up to the pace in the first half, losing possession on several occasions. He was also indisciplined, receiving a yellow card in the 41st minute, prompting Scaloni to substitute him early in the second half.
This resulted in Argentina wasting a valuable substitution on a defensive player rather than bringing on an additional attacker, which Scaloni would have preferred. PSG winger Angel Di Maria also had a dismal outing, failing to register even a single shot and registering an abysmal pass success percentage of 70%.
He failed to link up effectively with Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero and had to be subbed off in the 47th minute, with Rodrigo de Paul replacing him.
Match Stats
Guido Rodriguez
Pass Success-89%
Dispossessed-1
Tackles completed-1
Yellow card-1
Angel Di Maria
Pass Success-70%
Shots-0
Dribbles Completed-0
Dispossessed-1
#4 Argentina's creative midfielders show their inexperience
23-year-old Giovani Lo Celso, tipped heavily before the tournament to take over Argentina's playmaking responsibilities from Lionel Messi, failed to live up to his billing.
Too often involved in tense midfield battles in the middle of the park. the Real Betis man was often too deep to initiate attacks, leaving Messi isolated for large stretches of the game.
24-year-old PSG man Leandro Parades also failed to control the tempo of the game in midfield, failing to provide through balls in between the lines for Lionel Messi or Sergio Aguero to run onto.
Argentina's lack of experience in midfield was clear as Colombia frustrated the young Albiceleste midfielders by quickly closing them down and engaging with strong tackles.
Scaloni must be ruing his decision to not pick even a single experienced midfielder for the Argentina squad, with Atalanta's Alejandro 'Papu' Gomez, Sevilla's Ener Banega and River Plate's Enzo Perez amongst a host of experienced veteran midfielders he chose to leave out.
#3 Queiroz's counter-attacking strategy pays off
Appointed only in February 2019 as the manager of the Colombian national team, former Real Madrid and Portugal national team boss Carlos Quieroz has quickly managed to acclimatize the side to his playing style.
Employing a quick counter-attacking and pressure-absorbing strategy against an Argentina side that has players with good technical ability, Queiroz got his tactics spot on.
His substitutions also worked wonders, with both first half substitute Roger Martinez and second half change Duvan Zapata getting on the scoresheet.
#2 Ospina has a fantastic game, making several crucial saves
Former Arsenal custodian David Ospina proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with, pulling off 6 crucial saves to keep out the Argentine attack.
A superb parry from a 59th minute Leandro Paredes piledriver and an acrobatic stop from a Sergio Aguero header in the 66th minute were the standout saves of the night, with the 30-year-old showing that age hasn't dulled his reflexes.
The experienced Los Cafateros shot-stopper did superbly to keep out shots from Lionel Messi on two occasions and was superb in his positioning for all freekicks from Messi and Paredes
#1 Scaloni gets his substitutions completely wrong
Argentina's relatively inexperienced manager Lionel Scaloni, for whom the 2019 Copa America is his first major tournament as manager, failed to make any impact with baffling substitutions.
With Watford's electric winger Roberto Pereyra available on the bench, Scaloni threw in Udinese midfielder Rodrigo de Paul instead after Angel Di Maria had to subbed off in the 46th minute after a lackluster outing.
But perhaps the most puzzling change was throwing in River Plate striker Matias Suarez, who is yet to register an international goal with Argentina, in the 71st minute as his third substitution of the match, with Albiceleste 1-0 down. Scaloni has better options in Juventus' Paulo Dybala and Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez on the bench but inexplicably chose not to exercise them.
