U-20 to Final

Great battles had always been fought on rainy days.

Argentina U-20 deployed in 4-3-3 against Chile today.


The beginning of the game was marked by vicious Argentine attacks initiated by Banega that went down Chilean right wing. First one wasn't processed correctly, then second try... What a tremendous hit from young Di Maria that penetrated the little space left out near Chilean right post from Toselli's beautiful positioning. The first goal conceded by this 1.80m goalie in 490 minutes was an absolute screamer, and Toselli should bear no shame for letting that one go.

The next event was the straight red card for Chilean center midfielder Medel at 15th minute. The ref was the same German that officiated the remarkable clash between Valencia and Inter Milan. Wolfgang Stark is one of FIFA's primary referee prospects in Europe for a reason. His reaction after Medel's retaliation was quick, correct and just.

With goal down and man down, instead of giving up, Chileans started playing disciplined attacking football. The game started showing similarity to the group D opening match, where Poland stunned Brazil with a 1-0 win after receiving a red card in 27th minute. At the other end of the pitch, Mini Argentino started showing signs of relaxation again and committed several defensive errors. A Chilean 50 yard long lob was barely dodged by Romero's good friend - the goal post, and Chile continued pressing forward thereafter. An opening kept appearing between Fazio and Insua near our left wing. By continuously assaulting that space with wing plays, Chile was gaining control over the game.

Argentina dropped into 4-2-3-1, leaving only Aguero up front. As mentioned earlier, Moralez had started showing signs of fatigue, and wasn't very active during the first half, which reduced Argentina's offensive capability even further. With the formation dropping into 4-5-1, for a while it seemed we weren't able to fight back, just kept on absorbing Chilean punches and the game was looking increasingly more dangerous.

There are basically 2 different ways of playing 4-3-3. Either play like the dutch team or Barça, utilize individual talents of the players to sustain offensive pressure, or play like Chelski, drop into 4-1-4-1 and rely on hardcore defense + counter attacks. Mini Argentino seemed unable to find a suitable place in this formation. Too much lingering in between and they weren't very successful from either point of view.

There were some chances from both sides during the remainder of first half. Piatti and Di Maria both missed to keep the score 1-0. The missed chances also indicated that these players aren't world class yet, they still need further development to become NT material.

Most Chilean players stayed very calm during the first half, and shown remarkable discipline for a bunch of teenagers. The referee's red card forced them into a position they aren't used to, much like what happened in the Mexico-Paraguay game of Copa America.

The second half saw more attacking from Argentina, and more Chilean hard tackles, fouls and yellows. Then the next important event took place, and that was Yacob getting a yellow card. Yacob had been tackling pretty rough before that, but the yellow without a warning might of been a little harsh. This created a pretty big problem for our final game as Yacob will be suspended for that match due to accumulated yellows. Yacob is already subbing in for our injured DM Escudero! It was a technical foul that was probably necessary, but who are we going to use in the final now? A defender? Matias Cahais also got a yellow at 10th minute and will miss the final match! We will have to start 2 substitute defender... bahhh

Aguero and Moralez also made themselves more visible in the second half. Yacob knew he fucked up and started playing with 110% efforts. Finally Yacob scored at 65th minute to put the game away, eventhough the match saw another Chilean red card and Moralez's stoppage goal before going into garbage time.

Oh I almost forgot. Di Maria was substituted off and carried out of the pitch on stretcher. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious. For a game where we aimed at avoiding suspension and injuries, this wasn't exactly a satisfying result.

What lies ahead is a difficult match. I'll write some analysis on it before Sunday. But tomorrow, gotta go see Transformers :D