BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — In what was probably the last home appearance for the Argentina national team. lionel messi On Tuesday night, he scored a goal and provided an assist in a 5-0 win over Zambia in a farewell friendly ahead of the game. world cup.
The 38-year-old Messi set up Julián Alvarez’s goal in the fourth minute and scored in the 43rd minute. La Bombonera Stadium His goal in Buenos Aires was his 116th international goal in 198 appearances for Argentina.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation and implored him to help Argentina win the World Cup again. The world tournament will begin on June 11th in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Nicolas Otamendi and Valentin Barco also scored for Argentina.
The defending world champions caused some concern with a lackluster performance in last Friday’s match. 2-1 victory Over Mauritania.
Ahead of the friendly against Zambia, manager Lionel Scaloni warned that unless his team’s performance improved he would take drastic action regarding the 26-man World Cup squad that must be submitted by May 30.
For the final home game before the World Cup, Scaloni started with the same squad as the one that beat France in the 2022 final, but left out midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who is recovering from a muscular injury and had performed poorly against Mauritania.
Argentina, who also won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, open Group J against Algeria on June 16, followed by matches against Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27.
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