Argentina Under 23 Team Faces Mexico in Friendly as Preparation for Olympic Games

The Argentina Under 23 Team led by Javier Mascherano faces Mexico again in a friendly scheduled as part of its preparation for the Olympic Games to be held in Paris, after having secured a 4-2 victory last Friday. The first meeting between both teams took place in Mazatlán, where the Albiceleste achieved an outstanding performance and won a convincing victory thanks to the goals of Matías Soulé, Thiago Almada and Lucas Beltrán, who scored twice.

The second match is broadcast by the sports signal DSports. Fans can also follow the actions from any mobile device through the Directv GO platform. In the history between Argentina and Mexico in the Under 23 category, there are four precedents in official tournaments, all corresponding to the Pan American Games, with a balance of two victories for the South American team, one draw and one victory for the Aztecs.

The Mexicans had the first in the 12th minute when Claudio Echeverri lost it and after a counterattack, goalkeeper Fabricio Iacovich saved the team led by Javier Mascherano. The Estudiantes de La Plata goalkeeper began to emerge as a figure in the Albiceleste team.

Two minutes later Argentina responded with a good collective play that included a luxury from Luciano Gondou and that ended with a shot by Juan Nardoni that went into the hands of goalkeeper Fabián Tapia, who then saved another shot from Nico Paz. Later, the Aztec goalkeeper drowned out Gondou’s scream in the clearest shot the Argentine team had.

But El Tri responded and there were two providential covers from Iacovich who kept zero in his goal.

This new match provides a valuable opportunity for coaches to continue fine-tuning their strategies and evaluating the performance of performers before the start of the year’s biggest goal in the French capital.

The show takes place in the imposing Cuauhtémoc stadium, which once hosted the 1986 World Cup that turned Maradona into a myth. It is one of the highest stages in Mexico, with a capacity of 51,000 seats. It is also popularly called the Colossus of Wonders and usually hosts the matches of Club Puebla, in the MX League. During the World Cup that the team led by Carlos Salvador Bilardo won, Argentina appeared twice: during the group stage in the tie that ended 1-1 against Italy (with a goal from Diego Maradona) and in the round of 16, where They beat Uruguay by the slightest difference.

Argentina won the first duel 4 to 2

The draw determined that the Albiceleste team was seeded in Group B of the Olympic Games. Those led by Jefectio will begin their journey on July 24 at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Étienne against Morocco, champion of the last Under 23 African Cup of Nations. Then, on July 27 at the Stade de Lyon, Argentina will will face the third placed team in the AFC Under 23 Asian Cup, a competition that will take place from April 15 to May 3 in Qatar. The first phase will close on July 30, again at the Stade de Lyon. In that scenario they will clash against Ukraine, a team that finished in third place in the Under 21 Euro Cup. It is worth noting that the two best from each zone will advance to the quarterfinals.

Regarding their next opponents, Masche explained through a video released by the AFA that “we know that Morocco has won the African Cup and will surely be a very tough rival. Looking at the possibilities, they may have senior and senior U23 players who play in Europe. With Ukraine it is a bit the same: we don’t know them as a team but we know that they have good individuals who can be in the competition.”

“Being able to compete serves to continue strengthening the group, the base of the Pre-Olympic boys. Being able to have the possibility of having kids who couldn’t be in the Pre-Olympic, because they play in Europe or because they were left out. Now we can see how they adapt to the idea, along with those who were already working with us. (An Olympic Game) It is a different experience than what we players are used to. Normally in tournaments we are isolated and you go from the hotel to training and from training to the hotel… An Olympic Games allows you to coexist with athletes from all over the world, from all possible activities. “It is enriching to live together in an Olympic Village,” he added.

Trainings:

Mexico: F. Tapia; P. Monroy, J. Berlanga, R. Juarez, M. Chavez; Diego Medina, Rodrigo Lopez, Diego Gomez, Victor Lopez; James Munoz and Braian Gonzalez Alonso. DT: Chain.

Argentina: Iacovich; John Nardoni, G. Lujan, A. Quiros, R. Vega; John Sforza, Alan Varela, Nicholas Peace; Santiago Castro, Claudio Echeverri and Luciano Gondou. DT: Mascherano.

TV: DSports and DirectvGo

Stadium: Cuauhtémoc.

2024-03-26 02:12:26
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