Argentina national team don win Mauritania 2-1 for friendly match wey dem play for La Bombonera stadium for Buenos Aires. The match wey happen for Friday night na part of preparation for 2026 FIFA World Cup wey Argentina go defend as current champion.
Enzo Fernandez score first goal for Argentina for 17th minute after Nahuel Molina cross reach am. But the main talk of the match na Nico Paz wey score im first ever goal for Argentina shirt. The Como attacking midfielder take free-kick for 32nd minute wey pass through Mauritania wall and enter net.
Lionel Messi no start the match but dey for bench. The Argentina captain come enter for second half to replace Nico Paz. Messi get one chance for 55th minute but Mauritania goalkeeper Babacar Diop save am. The crowd for stadium show banners wey dey beg Messi to play for sixth World Cup.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni talk say the team no play well for the match. “Today, the team wasn’t good, it’s good to say that,” Scaloni talk after match. “We have to work and correct it.”
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez talk say na one of the worst games Argentina don play. “It was one of the worst games we’ve played, even for a friendly,” Martinez talk. “We lacked heart, thank goodness we weren’t playing the Finalissima like this.”
The Finalissima match against Spain wey suppose happen for Qatar don cancel because of Middle East conflict. That one make Argentina arrange matches against Mauritania and Zambia for this international window.
For Mauritania side, Jordan Lefort score consolation goal for 94th minute. Mauritania wey dey 115th for FIFA ranking show small fight against world champion.
Nico Paz wey born 2004 dey play for Como for Serie A. Im be the only Serie A player wey start for Argentina for the match. Maximo Perrone wey dey Como too dey for bench but no play. For Mauritania side, Lecce midfielder Oumar Ngom start the match but dem substitute am later.
Argentina go play Zambia for next friendly match for Tuesday night. Coach Scaloni dey use these matches to finalize im squad for World Cup. Teams get until May 30 to submit their 26-player rosters.
Argentina go begin World Cup defense against Algeria for June 16 for Kansas City. Dem go play Austria for June 22 and Jordan for June 27 for Group J. Former Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta talk say Argentina fit defend their title with Messi still dey play.
The match show say Argentina still get work to do before World Cup. Even though dem win, the performance no convince fans and players sey dem ready to defend trophy. Coach Scaloni get small time to fix the problems before the tournament begin.
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