Paraguay and Argentina delivered an intense match at Mineirao, but neither side was able to top the other. Goals from Richard Sanchez and Lionel Messi structured a 1-1 draw that doesn’t help either side on their quest to secure a spot in the knockout stages.

Cagey, ineffectual start to the match

Neither side looked comfortable over the Mineirao’s grass, as evidenced by the fact that neither squad created a clear scoring chance in the first 15 minutes. The beginning of the match was cagey, and it seemed neither side was finding spaces in the opposing final third. The biggest “moment” early on was the injury sustained by Derlis Gonzalez, although the attacking midfielder recovered following a cut on his forehead and remained on the game.

However, Argentina took control of the match starting the 18th minute and La Albiceleste moved the lines forward and began playing near Roberto Fernandez’s goal. However, they lacked sharpness in the final meters and the attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Giovani Lo Celso and Roberto Pereyra couldn’t muster anything even remotely dangerous.

Paraguay’s late wake up enough to grab the lead

The first real scoring chance came in the 29th minute and it was for Paraguay. Derlis Gonzalez charged down the right flank and sneaked his way into the box, but his shot came wide following a deflection off Nicolas Tagliafico. Gustavo Gomez won in the air following the subsequent play and Gonzalez once again ended in a good position to score, but his effort went wide.

It seemed things would end scoreless at the break, but Sanchez had other plans. The central midfielder came out of nowhere and blasted a right-footed shot following a cross from Miguel Almiron that went out of Franco Armani’s reach. Argentina couldn’t wake up following that strike and in fact, Paraguay looked closer to add another goal during the remainder of the initial 45 minutes. All things considered; the first half ended with a surprising 1-0 lead for Los Guaranies.

Messi steals the show after the break for Argentina

Argentina started the second half with a different approach and a substitution, as Sergio Aguero replaced an incumbent Roberto Pereyra. The move paid off since Argentina quickly equalized with a well-taken penalty from Messi, although the play had several question marks around it since many experts believe that shouldn’t have been called. Wilton Sampaio called stood, however, and the FC Barcelona star buried the ball past Fernandez to even things up.

Paraguay could have recovered their lead when Otamendi committed a penalty of his own in the 62nd minute. The Manchester City centre-back made a harsh, coming-from-behind challenge over Gonzalez, but Armani denied the playmaker’s attempt from the spot. That miss lifted Argentina’s spirit and Lautaro Martinez could have scored the go-ahead goal, but his close-range header in the 65th minute went over the crossbar.

Argentina tried hard, but they couldn’t complete the comeback

Argentina sent Angel Di Maria onto the pitch looking to spark things up in the final third, but the PSG winger once again struggled wearing his country’s shirt. Paraguay decided to sit back and play on the counter, perhaps knowing the draw would still allow them to depend on themselves in the final match of the group stage.

As a result, La Albiceleste monopolized the possession and the scoring opportunities in the final 20 minutes of action. Aguero and Messi took a prominent role in the build up of play, but the lack of spaces certainly hurt their chances to create chances. In fact, Paraguay came closer to score in the 84th minute with a header from close range, but the play was ruled out due to a previous offside.

Argentina had several changes down the stretch, but they couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. The game ended with a 1-1 draw, and now Argentina must battle in their final group-stage match against Qatar next week. Meanwhile, Paraguay will play against Colombia and they have their chance

Source: https://www.soccernews.com/argentina-1-1-paraguay-la-albiceleste-remain-winless-after-hard-fought-stalemate-at-mineirao/287765/

Haven't seen any of the matches..

May be people below me have something to say..

I respect messi what he has done for Barcelona

But I respect Ronaldo for what he has done for football!!

Na wa o. What's going on with this Argentina team sef.


Meanwhile, Pls I want to sell my Laptop to pay my school fee. Lenovo G550, 4GB RAM, HDD 250GB.
Still in good condition and working perfectly
Location is Apata, Ibadan. Check my signature for my contact number. Thank you
Price is 40k(Negotiable)

Chai messi

When it's said that CR-7 is the GOAT, Messi fans will start fuming.Ronaldo have won many laurels for country than Messi.Ok lets settle this again.
Abeg Like-Messi, Share-CR7
Ok! Ronaldo(CR-7) has it.The fella below me ndo!

In life you can't have it all. Life itself is full of up and down moments. As great as Ronaldo Delima who won many trophies with Brazil including World Cup, he couldn't win the Champions League which players like Daniel sturridge won recently despite playing for almighty Madrid filled with super stars. Jay Jay okocha as good as he was never won the African footballer of the year award which fringe players like Adebayor and El-hadji diouf won.


Many of you trolling messi's predicament with Argentina are doing so due to high expectations and unimaginable standards he sets for himself. He's a victim of his brilliance no doubt but never forget winning trophies is not exclusive to a player effort. Football is a team sport but i wonder why you all blame messi when he has been unfortunate to be with paper weight team mates. An injured Ronaldo won the Euro cup due to the fighting spirit of the Portuguese players (credit to Eder) after Ronaldo led them to finals with his goals. Same as the recent nations league which guedes delivered and Bernardo silva emerged best player.


Ronaldo is the arrow head of the Portuguese team no doubt but his team mates deliver when he's not in charge, unlike messi whose team mates are big names on paper but play terribly despite his efforts to inspire them to glory. Higuain missed 3 decisive one on one chances against Germany in 2014 finals before gotze scored, chances fringe players like guedes and Eder converted to win Ronaldo the international trophies you all troll about. Everything in Argentine football must not be delivered by messi. It's a games of 11 players so why place the burden on only messi as if Portugal fields only Ronaldo against other teams? When Elder and guedes scored to win the trophy when it mattered most, you guys ignore their efforts and give all praises to Ronaldo. When Argentina team plays badly even if defenders scored own goal all blame goes to messi. Haba guys, what level of hypocrisy?


This is not to defend or absorb messi of his involvement in the failure of the Argentine's team to win a major afterall he missed a penalty against chile in previous Copa finals, but i think we are too harsh on him with unreasonable criticisms.

I hope Majority of you guys criticizing him have achieved all you desire in life? I hope there is nothing again you which to achieve or conquer? Can you have it all in life? No. Even Atiku with all his billions stills dreams of being a president. You can't have it all. Ronaldo is fortunate to be in a team with winning mentality, unlike messi. Despite all Cristiano Ronaldo has won in his career, he would also wish to have a world cup medal which players like Giroud won without scoring a goal. There is always something left to chase and achieve. Despite all this challenges It doesn't dispute the fact that messi is indeed amongst the greatest players to play the game.


Had he naturalized to spain like diego Costa during their golden era of winning euros and world cup, this debate of who the greatest is would have been buried. Even if Argentina wins this year's copa America, you Ronaldo fans will still troll messi to win another international trophy to match Ronaldo's two. Nothing messi does will ever satisfy you people.


He's a victim of his brillance. Simple

Racoon:
When it's said the CR-7 is the GOAT, Messi fans will start fuming.Ronaldo have won many laurels for country than Messi.

If Messi played like Ronaldo do play in country competition final, then Argentina still won't have won anything yet

Argentina is just like super eagles.. When Honourable Messi retires, Barcelona and Argentina go hear am... Una no notice something, as Senegal sabi play ball reach, dem never carry Nation cup before.

timay:
Na wa o. What's going on with this Argentina team sef.


Meanwhile, Pls I want to sell my Laptop to pay my school fee. Lenovo G550, 4GB RAM, HDD 250GB.
Still in good condition and working perfectly
Location is Apata, Ibadan. Check my signature for my contact number. Thank you
Price is 40k(Negotiable)

Argentina as a team don't do well dunno why, maybe too much individual talents that can't seem to function effectively as a unit.

Messi should just forget about winning medal with this Argentina national team, seems they are doomed for failure during this generation.

Soon Laliga and champions league will begin, probably by then he can once again proof himself more for the race of Ballon D Or.

shift make i Laff Abeg...

Samsimple:
C.ronaldo is light years ahead of you.. The real goat

Yea I remember the bicycle kick he scored in euro final

gurunlocker:
.If Messi played like Ronaldo do play in country competition final, then Argentina still won't have won anything yet

Seems the Argentina team is under a spell with the Messi generation.

useless Argentina.. I wish they had Japan in their group instead of Qatar. its not even sure they will beat qatar self. Very useless team.

Argentina is not a football team abeg it still hurts me that we allowed them defeat us

This one think say na anybody way dey chop grass dem dey call goat

Messi steal the show because of penalty..

GoTV:
In life you can't have it all. Life itself is full of up and down moments. As great as Ronaldo Delima who won many trophies with Brazil including World Cup, he couldn't win the Champions League which players like Daniel sturridge won recently despite playing for almighty Madrid filled with super stars. Jay Jay okocha as good as he was never won the African footballer of the year award which fringe players like Adebayor and El-hadji diouf won.


Many of you trolling messi's predicament with Argentina are doing so due to high expectations and unimaginable standards he sets for himself. He's a victim of his brilliance no doubt but never forget winning trophies is not exclusive to a player effort. Football is a team sport but i wonder why you all blame messi when he has been unfortunate to be with paper weight team mates. An injured Ronaldo won the Euro cup due to the fighting spirit of the Portuguese players (credit to Eder) after Ronaldo led them to finals with his goals. Same as the recent nations league which guedes delivered and Bernardo silva emerged best player.


Ronaldo is the arrow head of the Portuguese team no doubt but his team mates deliver when he's not in charge, unlike messi whose team mates are big names on paper but play terribly despite his efforts to inspire them to glory. Higuain missed 3 decisive one on one chances against Germany in 2014 finals before gotze scored, chances fringe players like guedes and Eder converted to win Ronaldo the international trophies you all troll about. Everything in Argentine football must not be delivered by messi. It's a games of 11 players so why place the burden on only messi as if Portugal fields only Ronaldo against other teams? When Elder and guedes scored to win the trophy when it mattered most, you guys ignore their efforts and give all praises to Ronaldo. When Argentina team plays badly even if defenders scored own goal all blame goes to messi. Haba guys, what level of hypocrisy?


This is not to defend or absorb messi of his involvement in the failure of the Argentine's team to win a major afterall he missed a penalty against chile in previous Copa finals, but i think we are too harsh on him with unreasonable criticisms.

I hope Majority of you guys criticizing him have achieved all you desire in life? I hope there is nothing again you which to achieve or conquer? Can you have it all in life? No. Even Atiku with all his billions stills dreams of being a president. You can't have it all. Ronaldo is fortunate to be in a team with winning mentality, unlike messi. Despite all Cristiano Ronaldo has won in his career, he would also wish to have a world cup medal which players like Giroud won without scoring a goal. There is always something left to chase and achieve. Despite all this challenges It doesn't dispute the fact that messi is indeed amongst the greatest players to play the game.


Had he naturalized to spain like diego Costa during their golden era of winning euros and world cup, this debate of who the greatest is would have been buried. Even if Argentina wins this year's copa America, you Ronaldo fans will still troll messi to win another international trophy to match Ronaldo's two. Nothing messi does will ever satisfy you people.


He's a victim of his brillance. Simple

All this long epistle, to defend that knce again, Messi cannot do enough.

Is it not his mates scoring hat tricks to move their teams to finals?

Who are people to blame, if not Messi? When Nigeria plays badly, is it not Mikel chopping the blame 90% of the time? It is a given, that those who put on the captain bands, must collect the glory and the condemnation for their teams' performances.

Let us just accept that some people will never win certain trophies, no matter how many tournaments they play. Messi is one of them, he was great, but not great enough for Argentina

[s]

GoTV:
In life you can't have it all. Life itself is full of up and down moments. As great as Ronaldo Delima who won many trophies with Brazil including World Cup, he couldn't win the Champions League which players like Daniel sturridge won recently despite playing for almighty Madrid filled with super stars. Jay Jay okocha as good as he was never won the African footballer of the year award which fringe players like Adebayor and El-hadji diouf won.


Many of you trolling messi's predicament with Argentina are doing so due to high expectations and unimaginable standards he sets for himself. He's a victim of his brilliance no doubt but never forget winning trophies is not exclusive to a player effort. Football is a team sport but i wonder why you all blame messi when he has been unfortunate to be with paper weight team mates. An injured Ronaldo won the Euro cup due to the fighting spirit of the Portuguese players (credit to Eder) after Ronaldo led them to finals with his goals. Same as the recent nations league which guedes delivered and Bernardo silva emerged best player.


Ronaldo is the arrow head of the Portuguese team no doubt but his team mates deliver when he's not in charge, unlike messi whose team mates are big names on paper but play terribly despite his efforts to inspire them to glory. Higuain missed 3 decisive one on one chances against Germany in 2014 finals before gotze scored, chances fringe players like guedes and Eder converted to win Ronaldo the international trophies you all troll about. Everything in Argentine football must not be delivered by messi. It's a games of 11 players so why place the burden on only messi as if Portugal fields only Ronaldo against other teams? When Elder and guedes scored to win the trophy when it mattered most, you guys ignore their efforts and give all praises to Ronaldo. When Argentina team plays badly even if defenders scored own goal all blame goes to messi. Haba guys, what level of hypocrisy?


This is not to defend or absorb messi of his involvement in the failure of the Argentine's team to win a major afterall he missed a penalty against chile in previous Copa finals, but i think we are too harsh on him with unreasonable criticisms.

I hope Majority of you guys criticizing him have achieved all you desire in life? I hope there is nothing again you which to achieve or conquer? Can you have it all in life? No. Even Atiku with all his billions stills dreams of being a president. You can't have it all. Ronaldo is fortunate to be in a team with winning mentality, unlike messi. Despite all Cristiano Ronaldo has won in his career, he would also wish to have a world cup medal which players like Giroud won without scoring a goal. There is always something left to chase and achieve. Despite all this challenges It doesn't dispute the fact that messi is indeed amongst the greatest players to play the game.


Had he naturalized to spain like diego Costa during their golden era of winning euros and world cup, this debate of who the greatest is would have been buried. Even if Argentina wins this year's copa America, you Ronaldo fans will still troll messi to win another international trophy to match Ronaldo's two. Nothing messi does will ever satisfy you people.


He's a victim of his brillance. Simple

[/s]

If I’m right, you wrote nothing! You call somebody Goat and your expecting people not to expect from him! Drop that people been expecting anything from great players since time immemorial! No one wins it all in life! You win some, you lose some. Argentina had been failing for a while and Messi is part of the failure! Barcelona had been winning and Messi is part of the success! That’s it! Stop saving your time justifying poooh

safarigirl:


All this long epistle, to defend that knce again, Messi cannot do enough.

Is it not his mates scoring hat tricks to move their teams to finals?

Who are people to blame, if not Messi? When Nigeria plays badly, is it not Mikel chopping the blame 90% of the time? It is a given, that those who put on the captain bands, music collect the glory and the condemnation for their teams' performances.

Let us just accept that some people will never win certain trophies, no matter how many tournaments they play. Messi is one of them, he was great, but not great enough for Argentina

Football is a team sport madam. At least he scored one why couldn't his team mates step up to score too? Must it he messi all the time? The two trophies Ronaldo won with Portugal in finals was delivered by team mates when Ronaldo couldn't score in both finals. Argentina team is rubbish. All they have is messi and he can't do it alone

GoTV:
In life you can't have it all. Life itself is full of up and down moments. As great as Ronaldo Delima who won many trophies with Brazil including World Cup, he couldn't win the Champions League which players like Daniel sturridge won recently despite playing for almighty Madrid filled with super stars. Jay Jay okocha as good as he was never won the African footballer of the year award which fringe players like Adebayor and El-hadji diouf won.


Many of you trolling messi's predicament with Argentina are doing so due to high expectations and unimaginable standards he sets for himself. He's a victim of his brilliance no doubt but never forget winning trophies is not exclusive to a player effort. Football is a team sport but i wonder why you all blame messi when he has been unfortunate to be with paper weight team mates. An injured Ronaldo won the Euro cup due to the fighting spirit of the Portuguese players (credit to Eder) after Ronaldo led them to finals with his goals. Same as the recent nations league which guedes delivered and Bernardo silva emerged best player.


Ronaldo is the arrow head of the Portuguese team no doubt but his team mates deliver when he's not in charge, unlike messi whose team mates are big names on paper but play terribly despite his efforts to inspire them to glory. Higuain missed 3 decisive one on one chances against Germany in 2014 finals before gotze scored, chances fringe players like guedes and Eder converted to win Ronaldo the international trophies you all troll about. Everything in Argentine football must not be delivered by messi. It's a games of 11 players so why place the burden on only messi as if Portugal fields only Ronaldo against other teams? When Elder and guedes scored to win the trophy when it mattered most, you guys ignore their efforts and give all praises to Ronaldo. When Argentina team plays badly even if defenders scored own goal all blame goes to messi. Haba guys, what level of hypocrisy?


This is not to defend or absorb messi of his involvement in the failure of the Argentine's team to win a major afterall he missed a penalty against chile in previous Copa finals, but i think we are too harsh on him with unreasonable criticisms.

I hope Majority of you guys criticizing him have achieved all you desire in life? I hope there is nothing again you which to achieve or conquer? Can you have it all in life? No. Even Atiku with all his billions stills dreams of being a president. You can't have it all. Ronaldo is fortunate to be in a team with winning mentality, unlike messi. Despite all Cristiano Ronaldo has won in his career, he would also wish to have a world cup medal which players like Giroud won without scoring a goal. There is always something left to chase and achieve. Despite all this challenges It doesn't dispute the fact that messi is indeed amongst the greatest players to play the game.


Had he naturalized to spain like diego Costa during their golden era of winning euros and world cup, this debate of who the greatest is would have been buried. Even if Argentina wins this year's copa America, you Ronaldo fans will still troll messi to win another international trophy to match Ronaldo's two. Nothing messi does will ever satisfy you people.


He's a victim of his brillance. Simple

what a shame one has to type all these to defend pepsi.
But i tell you this there is no excuse for failure its either you win or lose, messi is a barca legend but not a footbal legend, more reasons his best performances are at camp nou, no one is a reflection of perfection.
Judging by individual performances, Argentina has one of the best teams in the world so if they perform this bad, question the leadership mentality surrounding that team.
Ronaldo uses both flair, motivation, promises and frustration to carry this Portugal team along, he does more off field build up, Ronaldo organised a party for juve after they lost to ATM in UEFA champions league.
This alone takes guts, anyway your Pepsi secondly retirement loading

And the goal he scored was a penalty ooo... Had Paraguay scored the penalty they lost, it would have been signed, sealed, and delivered for La Midget and team.

Am a madrid and ronaldo fan but i jst av dat feeling ARgentina will still win d copa america,jst bookmark dis statement

When you speak on Messi, speak it with respect and deference.
I see it is travesty that Ronaldo is put in the same pedestal as Messi. Messi is way way way ahead of Ronaldo.
It's a big insult to say Ronaldo is better because he had won 2 trophies with his national team forgetting trophies are team achievements. Portugal won the trophies and not Ronaldo. In those 2 finals Portugal played, Ronaldo fired blank, he was completely inefftctive on the field.

I'm going end this argument once and for all. Most of us has seen Okocha and Mikel Obi played. Okocha has played in the highest level of football with the national team but has failed to lift the continental nations cup whereas Mikel Obi has lifted the Nations Cup. My question is who is the greatest Nigerian Player between these two?

Let's know who knows their football.