Lionel Messi hits the post twice as Argentina beats Paraguay

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Argentina’s campaign on Thursday ended in jubilation after they won Paraguay by one goal to nil, with Lionel Messi hitting the opponent’s goal post twice.

MLS superstar Lionel Messi suffered a form-diminishing injury the last time he was out playing for his country when he developed muscular discomfort in the leg. Having been given some time off by his national team, he had returned to the United States of America, where his body put him through two memorably sad matches. But the player surprised a good number of people in this match against Paraguay.

The Argentine team played the first half without the help of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who was sent in by coach Scaloni in the dawn minutes of the second half.

This seems to have been needless, though.

It was the goal scored by Nicolas Otamendi that made Argentina the champions of the match. One of the fun facts about the match is that Otamendi is a defender but might have been constrained to work harder because he wore the captain’s band in the absence of Lionel Messi.

Argentina has had a good performance so far in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, gaining nine points in just three games. This is nothing less than what is expected of the defending champions, who earned the title during their last campaign with their world-class superstar Lionel Messi.

Peru is expected to end this nice record Argentina has generated so far in the next match Argentina has in the competition. Though Lionel Messi did not seem to be at his best in the past match, he put up a good show. But since his body is not yet back to normal, he might perform below his average level for some time.

🏆 #Eliminatorias#DatoAlbiceleste 🇦🇷

Apunten, disparen 🎯

Lionel #Messi fue el jugador que más veces remató al arco rival. pic.twitter.com/eq2sEU6vJp

— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) October 13, 2023

🏆 #Eliminatorias#DatoAlbiceleste 🇦🇷

¡Operación cerrojo: @nico_taglia! 🔐

👉 El argentino fue el jugador que más recuperó la pelota durante el partido. pic.twitter.com/9VLfSZcgwq

— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) October 13, 2023

Starting lineups:

Argentina (4-3-3): 23. E. Martinez (GK) — 21. Molina, 13. Romero, 19. Otamendi, 3. Tagliafico — 7. De Paul, 20. Mac Allister, 8. E. Fernandez (Paredes, 80′) — 9. J. Alvarez (Messi, 53′), 22. L. Martinez, 15. N. Gonzalez.

Paraguay (5-4-1, right to left): 1. C. Coronel (GK) — 14. I. Ramirez (R. Rojas, 46′), 15. G. Gomez, 5. Balbuena, 6. Alonso (Villasanti, 76′), 4. Espinoza — 20. R Sanchez, 8. Campuzano (Ojeda, 70′), 10. Almiron, 19. Sosa — 21. Bareiro (Sanabria, 70′).