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United States 0-4 Argentina: Messi masterclass leads Argentina into Copa final

By on June 21, 2016

The United States national team were always going to be second-best in their Copa America Centenario semifinal meeting with Argentina but the Red, White and Blue have made up for wide discrepancies in talent at times in the past. The USMNT has countered on these occasions with organization, togetherness and a patriotic sense of defiance that only brings the US fanbase closer together.

Tonight, however, was not one of those times, as Jurgen Klinsmann’s men failed to reflect the bold outlook of their fanbase and the raucous home-team supporters at a sold out NRG Stadium in Houston went home disappointed as Argentina breezed past the US 4-0.  Klinsmann threw on a security blanket just when the United States national team needed boldness, and in doing so his team were never able to come close to challenging Argentina in the Copa Centenario semifinals.

Klinsmann’s veteran attacking force, featuring Michael Bradley, Kyle Beckerman, Graham Zusi, Gyasi Zardes, Chris Wondolowski and Clint Dempsey, had an average age of over thirty years old and by the time Klinsmann took the risk of bringing on young stars Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe in the second half, Argentina were already in cruise-control.

There is no shame for the United States in losing to the number-one ranked team in the world by a considerable margin yet in saying that, it was certainly an abject failure for Klinsmann’s men to become the first team in the past four Copa America tournaments to go an entire game without registering one single shot.  After a victory over Ecuador in the quarterfinals, it was a most deflating way for the US to exit the tournament.

If the outcome was ever in doubt, it took just 137 seconds for Argentina to assert their dominance as Lionel Messi’s brilliance sent them surging to an early lead.  The Barcelona winger was at the heart of Argentina’s dominance, scoring a stunning free-kick and assisting Ezequiel Lavezzi for their first goal.

The United States looked to clear their lines and get into shape after an early corner was half-cleared but Messi was quicker to react, lurking unmarked at the top of the box to clip a lovely ball over the top to Lavezzi, who sent a looping header over Guzan.

The game was arguably over as a contest but it was impossible to take your eyes of Messi’s masterclass. In the eighth minute, he came close from Marcos Rojo’s low cross and then forced Guzan into a good low save with a twenty-yard drive after dancing past four defenders through the middle.

Just after the half-hour mark, Messi drew a cynical foul from Chris Wondolowski a full thirty yards out from goal and curled the free-kick over the wall, across goal and into a the very angle of the net with a stunning hit.  Brad Guzan, expecting a shot towards the unmarked half of the goal, took a half-step the wrong way and couldn’t get a hand of Messi’s inch-perfect goal.

The early goal put the United States in a tough position and Klinsmann attempted to breath some life into their listless midfield by bringing on Pulisic.  Yet that move also made the US more vulnerable to Argentina’s counter-attacks and Higuain broke in behind to convert Lavezzi’s cross from the left before capitalizing on Fabian Johnson’s horrendous slip to bag a second late on.

La Albiceleste were deadly in front of goal, putting nine of their ten shots on target, and the United States were left chasing their coattails as the game wore on.  Gerardo Martino’s men completed an astonishing 93% of their passes and have never been more confident heading into their second consecutive Copa final this weekend.

Homepage photo credit: Agência Brasil [CC BY 3.0 br], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.