In the early morning of June 30, Beijing time, the quarterfinals of the European Cup kicked off, and the defending champion Italy lost 0-2 to Switzerland and missed the quarterfinals. After the game, coach Spalletti said that an important reason for the team's elimination was that Inter Milan won the league early and the mentality of the players in the team was too relaxed. However, a few hours later, Lautaroma Dinnes, who he coached, was on the other side of the distant ocean and slapped his former mentor in the face: "I scored two goals in three games and four goals, and you actually say that I am too relaxed?
This is the final round of Argentina's group stage of this Copa America. In the previous two games, they defeated Canada 2-0, defeated Chile 1-0, and advanced to the quarterfinals in advance with two wins and two wins. In the face of Peru, which had 1 draw and 1 loss before, Scaloni made a large rotation, Messi, Alvarez, McAllister, Enzo Fernandez and Lisander-Martinez and other main players were on standby, while Inter captain Lautaro, who had been substituted in a row, started the game.
Even so, the reigning Copa America champions dominated the pitch and Peru did everything they could to keep the goal on goal in the first half. However, just one minute into the second half, Di Maria sent a wonderful pass, and Lautaro easily pushed into the far corner in front of the goalkeeper, scoring in three consecutive group games. After the goal, Lautaro deliberately ran to the sidelines to hug Messi.
In the 72nd minute, Montiel made a penalty in the box, but Paredes, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, hit the post with a wheel, and he became the first player in the 108-year history of the Copa America to miss a penalty on his birthday. In the 86th minute, substitute Enzo Fernandez made a long pass in the midfield, Lautaro actively stepped forward to grab the ball and shook the opposing defender to score the ball, completely sealing the victory for the Argentine team.
In this game, Argentina had 74% possession, scored 2 goals with 6 shots on target from 12 shots, and also missed 1 penalty, showing good offensive efficiency. Lautaro Martinez played the full game, scoring two goals from four shots, three on target, and two successful breakaways plus five fouls, all of which were game-highs. In addition, he had four breakaways, two tackles, one clearance and one aerial duel, and his pass completion rate was 86 per cent. After the game, the Inter captain received a game-high score of 8.2 points, which is well deserved.
In his post-match interview, Lautaro, who leads the scorers' charts, expressed satisfaction with his performance, but stressed that it was important to be able to help the team. Before the Copa America kick off, he was ready to shake off the shadow of a poor World Cup performance, and he did.
In the just-concluded 2023/24 season, Lautaro scored 27 goals and 3 assists in 44 games, including 24 goals and 3 assists in 33 Serie A games, and was the biggest contributor to Inter's Serie A championship in five rounds ahead of schedule, and he himself won the Serie A Golden Boot for the first time. Now, Lautaro has brought the club's good form to the national team, leading the Copa America scorer list with four goals in three games in the group stage, and is hopeful of winning the first Copa America Golden Boot of his career. His performance also made Spalletti, who threw out the theory of relaxation and dumping Inter, be slapped in the face.