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Argentina got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a perfect start Thursday when Lionel Messi’s early penalty kick gave them a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in a mediocre match in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine FA sounded the noise of the fans around the empty Bombonera stadium and the chants of ‘Messi! Messi! ‘They were vindicated already in the 12th minute when he put Argentina ahead from the penalty spot after Lucas Ocampos received a foul inside the area.
Argentina had lost just one of their last eight World Cup qualifying matches against Ecuador and, although they couldn’t add to the scoreboard, they never seemed in danger of losing in a tough game against limited opponents.
“It was important to start with a victory because we know how difficult the qualifying rounds are and every game is going to be as tough as this one,” Messi said.
With the South American qualifiers delayed twice from the scheduled start in March, it had been nearly a year since either team had played a full international match and Messi said inaction contributed to the bad show.
“We expected the level of play to be different, but it has been almost a year since we played together, this was our first game back and nervousness complicates it,” said the Barcelona forward.
The three points, however, were more than welcome for a team that has not won a major title since lifting the Copa América in 1993.
The victory, which extended Argentina’s unbeaten streak to eight games under coach Lionel Scaloni, was also positive given that seven of the starting lineup had never played a World Cup qualifier before.
Argentina’s next game is Tuesday against Bolivia in La Paz, while Ecuador returns home to face Uruguay, who beat Chile 2-1 in their first game on Thursday, the same day.
The top four teams from the 10-team pool from South America automatically qualify for Qatar 2022 and the fifth-place team enters an interregional playoff.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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