Brasilia (AFP)
Argentina defeated Uruguay 1-0 on Day 2 of the Copa America on Friday, thanks to an inspired Lionel Messi who gave the ball for his team's victory in this Rio De La Plata classic.
Lionel Scaloni's team were determined to suffocate Uruguay.
She succeeded thanks to her star player, Lionel Messi, center author who allowed his team-mate Guido Rodriguez to score with a header after 13 minutes of play at the Nacional Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia.
Uruguay, entering the Copa, struggled but could not do anything against a strong defense from Argentina, which has improved compared to previous matches.
Uruguay's historic strikers Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez did seek to inconvenience Argentina's defense, but without the help of the unsuccessful midfielders they were struggling.
On the Argentinian side, and as Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez had anticipated, Lionel Messi was "king of precision".
He distinguished himself in the individual game, carrying the danger in the opposing camp by explosive accelerations, without forgetting the collective game.
He proved it with a decisive cross, headed by Rodriguez, author of the only goal of the game.
However, he did not have the same luck with his team-mate Lautaro Martínez.
For Rodriguez, this is his first goal for the national team.
Aged 28, he started as a midfielder in place of Leandro Paredes.
- Shock Messi-Suarez -
This classic between the two countries, separated by the Rio de La Plata, did not avoid controversy when Cavani fell to the Argentine goal after contact with Guido Rodriguez.
Uruguay then immediately claimed a penalty that Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio dismissed without a shadow of a doubt.
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We expected a lot from the Messi-Suarez shock.
In life, they are inseparable friends with very close relationships that extend to their families, but during the "clasico" the two men are mostly adversaries.
"My relationship with Lionel is friendly, but obviously there is no room for her on the pitch, as in the Spanish league," Suarez stressed.
The "gunslinger" Suarez and the "chip" Messi faced each other in their respective national shirts on Friday for the first time since the Uruguayan left FC Barcelona in August 2020 after six seasons alongside Messi with whom he formed a duo prolific.
Both are the top scorers in the history of their respective national teams, Messi with 74 goals and Suarez with 63, but it is Messi who has the most to lose in this 2021 Copa played in Brazil.
The Argentine may be playing his last chance to win the Copa America, a trophy Suarez once lifted, in Argentina in 2011, when his side knocked out Messi's in the quarter-finals on penalties.
© 2021 AFP