On June 21, Beijing time, the opening match of the Copa America began, and the first game in Group A, Argentina played against Canada. In terms of world rankings, Argentina is at the top of the rankings, while Canada is only at No. 49, a big gap between the two sides. After 90 minutes of battle, Argentina defeated Canada 2-0, with Little Spider and Lautaro making contributions.
The four teams in Group A are Argentina, Peru, Chile and Canada, among which Argentina is undoubtedly the best team. Argentina have been the most successful team in the past cycle, winning back-to-back Copa America 2021 and 2022 World Cup titles, and Lionel Messi has been officially crowned the champion. This time, veterans such as Messi and Di Maria are still selected for the squad, and Argentina's only goal is to defend the title. Canada's last appearance in the tournament was also the World Cup in Qatar, but they were eliminated from the bottom of all three games, and the team's number one star Alphonso Davies led the team.
In terms of starters, the Argentine team did its best, Messi and Alvarez charged with double arrows, McAllister and Di Maria flew on the wings, Paredes and De Paul sat at home, Acuña, Lisandro, Romero, Molina on the back line from left to right, and the goalkeeper was still Martinez; On the Canadian side, Mallorca striker Larin, Inter midfielder Buchanan, Porto midfielder Ostaquio and Bayern full-back Alphonso Davies all started the game.
In the first half of the game, Argentina frequently attacked Canada in the opening stage, and the best chance was in the 8th minute, when Argentina counterattacked, Di Maria got a super big single knife in the half, but unfortunately he drove straight into the big and was saved by Kripper. As the game deepened, Canada also put pressure on Argentina on the basis of tightening the fence, Davies frequently exploded on the left side, and Martin Da received high and low blocks to keep the goal intact. In the 42nd minute, Canada also missed a good chance when Ostagchio's close-range header was brilliantly saved by Martinez. Although the two sides exchanged blanks at half-time, the confrontation was fierce and fast-paced, and the perception was not lost to the European Cup at all.
In the second half, Argentina began to exert their strength and scored in just four minutes. Messi made a through kick through the Canadian defence, McAllister was saved by a single knife, and Alvarez scored with an empty goal, 1-0. In the 64th minute, Martinez went directly to Messi with a big foot, but unfortunately after Messi shook the goalkeeper with a single knife, he was cleared by the defender who was making up for the empty goal. Then David's superb header was deflected, shocking Argentina into a cold sweat. In the 78th minute, Messi got a single knife again, but unfortunately slid out. In the 82nd minute, Argentina made a steal in front, and Lautaro also lost a single knife. However, at the last moment, Canada began to disconnect, Messi was a straight kick again, Lautaro rushed to the goal to seal the win, and finally Argentina beat Canada 2-0.
In this game, although Argentina's attacking line wasted many chances, Athletic only looked at the result, and a comfortable 2-0 allowed Argentina to win all three points to get off to a good start, which was the most important thing. In fact, in the competition, the opening game often starts in the first gear and goes longer than the start in the fifth gear. Argentina's control of the game still shows the heritage and style of the world champion.