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Argentina salvages a draw against Bolivia in Copa America opener

Argentina Bolivia 1 (AP)

By FRANCO PANIZO

It may have been a draw, but it probably felt like a loss for Argentina.

Argentina kicked off the 43rd edition of the Copa America in unconvincing fashion at home on Friday night, needing a spectacular finish from substitute Sergio Aguero to tie Bolivia, 1-1.

Aguero's goal, which came off a one-timed, right-footed volley in the 76th minute, salvaged a result for the albiceleste after Edvaldo Rojas put the Bolivians ahead three minutes after halftime. Rojas netted following a corner kick, hitting a heel shot that midfielder Ever Banega misplayed before rolling over the goal line.

Argentina had the majority of the game's chances, but poor finishing and solid defending by Bolivia translated into a surprise result in front of disappointed crowd of Argentines. Leo Messi sprung teammates on a few occasions with quality through balls, but he didn't make enough of an impact to get Argentina to a winning start in a tournament in which it is favored.

Here are the game's highlights:

 

What did you think of Argentina tying Bolivia? Wondering why Messi couldn't shred apart the Bolivian defense? Do you see Bolivia making it out of the group now?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Just because other countries change managers does that mean it is a good thing? Did changing the manager do Argentina any good?

    Argentina won the World Cup in 1986 and were runners up in 1990. Since then their best finish has been making it to the quarter finals, three times.

    They won the Confederations Cup in 1992.

    They won Copa America in 1993.

    Since then nothing, except for the 2004 Olympics.

    The USMNT would jump at that record but for a country like Argentina 18 years is an unacceptably long drought between trophies.

    Alfio Basile won the Copa America in 1993. Since then there have been six managers including the present one. Bielsa was the longest tenured one, six years,and though he did win the Olympics in 2004 ( not exactly a senior honor)he did not get out of the group stage in the 2002 World Cup.

    So explain to me how changing a manager by itself, does any good?

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  2. Messi is fine and is playing well but, Argentina should not stick Messi in the false 9 and then expect that they can imitate Barca.

    Messi has an almost telepathic relationship with his teamates at Barca that you cannot expect to replicate for Argentina, given how little time international teams train together.

    Barca took years to figure out their intricate style and it requires certain kinds of players, such as good wingbacks like Dani Alves, that Argentina don’t have.

    Spain can imitate Barca a bit simply because more Barca players , especially Xavi and Iniesta, are Spanish. Argentina just have Messi and Mascherano.

    Argentina need to develop their own style.

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  3. do you really think there is something genetically superior about brazilians when it comes to football? GMAFreakinbreak. Couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s religion there, and basically athletic child plays the sport, right?

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  4. As my portena neighbor likes to say, “Argentinians are Italians who think they are French, and they can’t speak Spanish.”

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  5. Think about it.

    Gio dos Santos,half Brazilian.

    Edivaldo, half Brazilian.

    Thiago Alcantara, half-Brazilian.

    And many more out there,

    I do not remember now.

    Think of a genetic program, bringing

    Brazilian stars to play in the USA

    and make them marry American.

    In 15 years there would be a lot of

    American players of great ability.

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  6. a decent flick, and the worst defending job by a defender to let in such a soft goal. It was quite pathetic by the guy on the post.

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  7. Yes, “us Americans”. What exactly are you again?

    Perhaps you’d be better served on that nationality’s specific website (or just not posting on websites at all, saving people the wasted time of reading your thoughts).

    Quit giving foreigners a bad name.

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  8. Getting an important point in Argentina during a international tournament does not compare to little league. You are way off.

    This result helps Bolivia, not only in their Copa America bracket, but it also gives them confidence as they rebuild their program with their new coach and players. There is a lot more going on here.

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  9. Very true. Count in wondering why they are relying on their tried and true players on the national team instead of bringing in obscure players that do well in smaller leagues but haven’t done well internationally.

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  10. Check out the teams clubs those players play in as opposed to the clubs represented in the gold cup of course its a whole other level of play.

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  11. half Brazilian, half Bolivia, although I am pretty sure that his Brazilian side had most to do with the heel flick 😉

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  12. No one here saw the beauty of the goal of Edivaldo? So you Americans will never will get ability, since it does not recognize when you see it. By the way, Edivaldo is Brazilian.

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  13. Aren’t a lot of Argentines of Italian descent? Maybe they are emulating their European cousins by being slow starters in tournament play.

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  14. We in this country can appreciate a slow start, early loss and lack of tactical awareness. Keep the manager! Keep the Federation heads! Let’s keep relying on the same old players every match. A poor manager would consider sitting players out of form! A poor manager allows a team to have a bad game(s)! This is Argentina for crying out loud, they shouldn’t dominate minnows every game, despite being in their own federation..draws are about right 1-1!! Bolivia doesn’t deserve credit for playing well, because it’s more a case of Argentina’s plan of starting slow & drawing lesser opponents. A poor manager develops his pool! Yessssss!!!!! Everything is awesome!!!! Let’s bathe in medocrity, raising expectations be damned!!!!

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  15. lets stop comparing this to BB. BB hasn’t fixed the same problems we’ve had for close to a year now. I admit he has tried some different things to, but he still hasn’t got it figured out and you can only wait so long till you figure he just can’t do it.

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  16. We in this country know what the first poor showing in a tournament means. Fire the manager! Fire the Federation heads! Stop relying on the same old players for every match! A real manager knows when to sit his stars! A real manager never allows his team to have a bad game! This is Argentina for crying out loud, they should dominate every game, especially in their own federation by at least 4-0!! Bolivia doesn’t deserve credit for playing well, because it’s more a case of Argentina playing poorly. A real manager would teach his team finishing! Ahhhhh!!!!! The sky has fallen!!!!

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  17. Yes, that’s exactly what will happen. Some people on SBI and other soccer websites seem to think Americans are the only people who complain about their manager. Have you ever been outside of the US? Bob Bradley would have been run out of town long ago in almost any other country.

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  18. “Seriously after watching the Copa Oro…who didn’t think that what we were watching last night was in a whole other league?”-AcidBurn

    =====

    It is, both literally and figuratively. Is that breaking news?

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  19. Serious respect to Bolivia – they came in and stood up to Argentina, defended stoutly, and if their #9 hadn’t blown a breakaway, would have walked out with a victory. The USMNT could learn something from how to play against a team with superior talent and grind out a result.

    http://www.ole.com.ar/la-tapa/TAPA_OLEIMA20110702_0041_21.jpg

    Seriously after watching the Copa Oro…who didn’t think that what we were watching last night was in a whole other league? Even Bolivia looked like they could move the ball on the counterattack 3x faster than the “wait, corral, slow turn, weak pass” USMNT.

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  20. Yea, I should have also clarified that I agree with you on the depth he was dropping. You don’t see him (anymore) drop that far back, as you said, with Xavi.

    That said, haters or not…at some point (like Ronaldo), you’d be hard pressed to deny he doesn’t perform at the same level with country as he does with club.

    Still love him and acknowledge we’re probably witnessing the greatest player of this generation…but he leaves a lot to be desired with Argentina.

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  21. True but he actually has an old school #10 at Barca in Xavi to play him in at times and dictate play. With argie he is expected to walk on water every game.

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  22. While I agree they deserve some praise/respect for their performance…these are professional athletes.

    Moral victories are for fat 8 year olds that hustle on their respective little league team.

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  23. ” At barca of course hes gonna be better because he either passes or shoots, with ARG they expect him to play #’s 9, 10, 11. He has to get the ball deep in midfield, play the 1+2, run at the defense then score the goal or play the killer ball.”-CH

    ======

    That’s exactly what he does at Barca, FYI.

    I will agree with you, however, Argentina’s manager didn’t have the team properly prepared/set-up.

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  24. Messi haters make me laugh. At barca of course hes gonna be better because he either passes or shoots, with ARG they expect him to play #’s 9, 10, 11. He has to get the ball deep in midfield, play the 1+2, run at the defense then score the goal or play the killer ball. The argentina coach was also an idiot, why the hell were you ever playing 3 d mids vs bolivia, thats not the “barca style”. Put in Pastore for Cambiasso. To help Messi provide a killer ball.

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  25. Bolivia played well and should receive more credit. It’s extremely hard to get a good result when you’re matched up against the host team. Congratulations Bolivia…!!!!

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  26. Wait. argentina tied the 93rd ranked team in the world at home. I can only assume that futbalparaives.co.ag is lighting up with calls for the immediate termination of the manager, the head of the federation, wondering why Messi starts every match, no matter what, complaints about player development, etc?

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  27. they are feeling the pressure, you can just see it before the game started. the talent is there for sure they just need to keep it simple and spread it around. to many times any of the attacking players were trying to take on multiple players to no avail. our defense is VERY suspect and it WILL cost us the cup but the team will play better…..hopefully.

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