“With the players we have out, it could be an opportunity for some guys to show their value,” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said before his team’s World Cup qualifier away to Uruguay on Friday.
The reigning world champions went into the game without Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala and Lisandro Martinez, all missing due to injury, while Rodrigo De Paul only made the bench.
Yet they still won, courtesy of Thiago Almada’s 68th-minute strike, and could have had more despite Uruguay enjoying 56 per cent possession.
The backbone of the result, which puts them on the verge of qualifying for next year’s World Cup, was their defensive performance. But the primary positive will be the early signs that Almada and in-form Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, who assisted the former’s goal, can lead Argentina’s attack in the post-Messi era.
The match in Montevideo was always going to be decided by a moment of quality and that arrived in the 68th minute following some clever play from Almada and Alvarez.
As Alvarez receives the pass, Almada runs forward, dragging a defender with him.
Alvarez dribbles forward himself and Uruguay’s defenders shift their focus to him as Almada curves his run to get back onside.
The Atletico man skips past a challenge, prompting Ronald Araujo to move towards the byline. At the same time, Almada drops to the edge of the box.
Alvarez eventually turns back, aware that he has forced Uruguay’s defence to retreat, creating space for Almada on the edge of the box. Alvarez rolls the ball to Almada, who bends his shot into the top corner.
This was not the first time Alvarez and Almada had combined to threaten Uruguay, though. Marcelo Bielsa’s team had received a warning sign just moments earlier.
Here, Enzo Fernandez, with Jose Maria Gimenez closing him down, flicks a pass into Alvarez in midfield.
As Gimenez retreats into position, a gap remains between the two centre-backs.
Alvarez, having carried the ball forward, takes advantage and slips a Messi-esque reverse pass into that gap for Almada, who times his run past Nahitan Nandez to perfection.
The youngster, making his first Argentina start, tries to round Sergio Rochet, but fails as the Uruguay goalkeeper smothers.
Alvarez’s passing has significantly improved since his spell at Manchester City.
He attempted 47 passes against Uruguay, a higher tally than that mustered by all the other forwards across both teams, and his willingness to drop deep led to situations like the one below.
Araujo, tasked with marking him, is dragged out of position almost all the way up to the halfway line.
Interestingly, Alvarez is accompanied above in midfield by Almada, who was equally comfortable at dropping in to help Argentina counter Uruguay’s press.
On a couple of occasions in the first half, Almada proved to be Argentina’s get-out-of-jail card, too. In the example below, he collects a pass on the left side of his defence and is immediately under pressure.
Almada seems to have run out of options but plays a clever reverse pass into Leandro Paredes to bypass four Uruguay players and thrust Argentina back onto the front foot.
He did the same in the 18th minute, drifting infield from the left under pressure to find Giuliano Simeone on the right. Six Uruguay players are taken out of the game.
Almada, like Alvarez, used his movement to drag players out of position. Nandez was initially tasked with marking him, a logical move given their positions on the pitch as Uruguay’s right-back and Argentina’s left-winger. But Almada’s drifting caused issues and even led to Argentina’s first shot on target in the 27th minute.
Upon receiving a pass from Fernandez on the counter, Almada dribbles away from Rodrigo Bentancur.
Nandez steps out to close down Almada but leaves space, which Fernandez fills by running on Bentancur’s blindside.
Alvarez drops to receive Almada’s pass before guiding it first time to Fernandez. The Chelsea midfielder takes a touch and shoots straight at Rochet.
With Uruguay dominating possession, most of Argentina’s opportunities came in transition. But as Argentina grew into the game, they began bypassing Uruguay’s press, too. When they did, it made life easier for Alvarez and Almada, as in this example from the 48th minute.
Right-back Nahuel Molina finds Alexis Mac Allister, who plays a one-two with Fernandez.
Mac Allister then runs into the space left by Jose Maria Gimenez stepping out of the back line to close him down.
The Liverpool midfielder then finds Alvarez in the gap between Nandez and Araujo. As Araujo has his back turned to Alvarez, Nandez is forced to close down the Atletico Madrid forward, which creates space for Almada to run into.
Alvarez finds Almada, whose shot is tipped over the bar by Rochet.
Alvarez and Almada — 25 and 23 respectively — are better known for their movement and dribbling than for their passing but showed in Montevideo that they can combine to great effect.
The duo’s fingerprints were all over four great Argentina openings in a cagey game. They have a good understanding of each other’s game, having played together for the under-20s and at the 2024 Olympics before their stint with the senior team.
Messi’s playmaking is harder to replace than his goalscoring, but the win over Uruguay hinted that the qualities of, and chemistry between, Almada and Alvarez can fill the void.
(Top photo: Eitan Abramovich/AFP via Getty Images)
