SPAIN VS ARGENTINA PREVIEW & PREDICTION
The Wanda Metropolitano will be the battlefield of the international match between Spain and Argentina on Tuesday-evening. Even though this is only a friendly meeting, there is of course a lot of prestige at stake in Madrid. The biggest question, however, is whether visitors can have Lionel Messi.
Spain:
The Spanish selection has no secrets for the seasoned football fan. With the likes of Sergio Ramos, David de Gea, Andres Iniesta, Koke and Isco in the ranks, the selection of the Southern Europeans naturally goes hand in hand with the list of favorites for winning the World Cup. Not for nothing did La Roja with nine wins and a draw a flawless World Cup qualifier and last Friday evening at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf with 1-1 upside against reigning world champion Germany. Since national coach Julen Lopetegui took over the baton from then-elected Vicente del Bosque immediately after the failed 2016 European Championship, the Spaniards are still unbeaten.
Despite the fact that the Spanish selection bulges from the world stars, Lopetegui still has some headaches. For example, he still does not know what the Spanish attack should look like. The Spaniards scored lustily in the World Cup qualifying with an average of 3.6 goals per game, but at the World Cup they will of course experience more resistance than against football matches such as Liechtenstein and Macedonia. Against Germany, Valencia striker Rodrigo Moreno got the chance at the point of the attack, who last Friday managed to get his good form at his club with his country by also playing against Germany just after five minutes. However, he faces fierce competition from Diego Costa in particular, while Iago Aspas and Alvaro Morata are also options (although Morata is currently not selected due to its moderate form).
Spain played a meritorious match against Germany, but it is obvious that Lopetegui will rotate on Tuesday-evening. Players like Nacho, Rodri, Saul, Marco Asensio and Diego Costa therefore stand a good chance at a starting place. David Silva left the Spanish camp for personal reasons and will therefore not be there anyway against Argentina.
Argentina:
The World Cup qualification of Argentina was a lot less successful. The two-time world champion, who did not have to leave any World Cup final since 1970, threatened to miss the boat for a long time. In the last round in the South American World Cup qualifying zone, however, Lionel Messi put a helping hand to his country. The ball virtuoso helped Argentina with a hat-trick personally in advance of Ecuador (1-3), so that La Albiceleste finished in third place at the last minute and thus directly qualified for the upcoming World Cup.
With Messi we have of course mentioned the greatest Argentina danger. With eight Spanish national titles, four Champions Leagues and five Ballon d’Ors, his personal trophy booths with trophies won at individual and club level, but in the shirt of Argentina he comes no further than winning the World Championship for players under twenty years in 2005 and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. The real crown on the job has to come this summer in the form of World Cup winnings. Only then can he finally cast off the shadow of Diego Maradona in his own country.
However, it remains to be seen whether Messi will kick off at Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday evening. The star is not completely fit and therefore had to pass the practice match against Italy (2-0 victory thanks to goals from Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini) last Friday. According to AS Argentina, Messi will therefore not participate in the coming Tuesday. The Argentine Ole, however, still has a battle and claims that the decision about whether or not to play La Pulga has yet to be made. Anyway, I can hardly imagine that Messi will fill up the ninety minutes on Tuesday night. National coach Jorge Sampaoli will not want to risk his good relationship with FC Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde in a practice match. Anyway, we have recently been able to see to what extent the Argentinians are dependent on their star player. In November last year, without Messi, the South Americans got horribly out of it in the 2-4 game reign against Nigeria.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.81
