DI MARÍA MASTERCLASS vs BOLIVIA 🔥 CAPITÁN DE ARGENTINA, VOLÓ EN LA ALTURA, DOBLE ASISTENCIA Y MÁS

The Argentine national team faced a significant challenge in their visit to Bolivia for the second matchday of the South American World Cup Qualifiers, as they were without Lionel Messi, both as a starter and as a substitute. This forced Lionel Scaloni to be resourceful in order to replace the world's best player in one of the most challenging environments for playing football, given the high altitude of the Hernando Siles Stadium in La Paz. Initially, Ángel Di María took on the role vacated by the captain of the Albiceleste and Inter Miami, but he played more on the right wing and with less freedom than Messi enjoys with the national team. Other players who adopted a new approach compared to their match against Ecuador at the Monumental Stadium were Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernández, who moved further up the pitch to contribute more to the attack and get into the box. Meanwhile, Alexis Mac Allister played as a more positional central midfielder, a role he played for much of last season at Brighton. This difference was especially noticeable with the Atlético Madrid player, who was much more direct (as in his early years as a professional with Racing) and even tried his luck with long-range shots that went narrowly wide of the home team's goal. However, it was Enzo who had the best chances, not only coming very close to scoring with a shot from over 30 meters that miraculously missed the target just minutes before netting his second goal for the national team. A well-worked team move, initiated by De Paul and flicked on by Julián Álvarez, found Di María on the right wing. The cross was just beyond the reach of the Chelsea midfielder, who managed to connect with it to open the scoring in the 31st minute and bring a smile to Messi's face. The second goal came courtesy of a pinpoint cross from Ángel Di María, which Nicolás Tagliafico met (with a shot that was somewhere between a header and a shoulder strike). The goal resulted from a foul on Rodrigo De Paul, another recurring theme throughout the match. The home team opted to disrupt the game with a huge number of fouls, to the point that when Esteban Ostojich blew the final whistle, the final tally was twenty-three fouls for Argentina compared to just ten for the Albiceleste. In the second half, there was a significant change in the rhythm of the match. Argentina no longer pressed as intensely as they had in the first half, and their finishing wasn't as sharp in converting the numerous chances created by the home team's inaccuracies. This was a clear indication of the fatigue characteristic of these matches played at over 3,600 meters above sea level, compounded by the fact that eight of the ten outfield players had played four days earlier against Ecuador at the Monumental Stadium. With just six minutes remaining, Di María, in the match where he equaled Diego Maradona's record of 26 assists for Argentina, orchestrated another cross-field pass. Julián Álvarez failed to control the ball, but Exequiel Palacios (who had come on for De Paul just minutes earlier) pounced, stealing it from Fernando Saucedo and setting up Nicolás González, who had been relatively quiet compared to the rest of the attack, to score the third goal, making it 3-0, the first goal of the match and then the final score in the high altitude of La Paz. For more information, visit http://www.tycsports.com