Written by Alex Browne, Lisandro Martinez puts on an incredible show with the ball in Argentina’s triumph over Canada. 06/21/2024
Argentina defeated a fierce Canadian team to begin their Copa America campaign, and Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United got off to the ideal start.
The United centre defender, who will be trying to hold onto his hard-earned spot throughout the tournament, was selected to start alongside Cristian Romero.
Although La Albiceleste prevailed 2-0, they were unable to maintain their lead at the interval because a resolute Canadian team went all out to prevent La Albiceleste from scoring, and both teams wasted excellent opportunities.
Argentina took the lead through Julian Alvarez of Manchester City in the 49th minute, but it took until the 88th minute for Lautaro Martinez to put the game away with a wonderful through ball from Lionel Messi.
With 65% of the ball and 19 shots to Canada’s 10 shots, the World Cup victors held the upper hand.
Martinez scored 7.2 on Sofascore for his performance that evening, helping his team maintain a clean sheet.
Fans of United will be hoping that he has put his injury problems behind him as he successfully completed another important ninety minutes of play, his third straight for the national team.
Against a dangerous Canadian counterattack, he made one interception and two clearances.
Throughout the game, he did not engage in any aerial combat; instead, he won two tackles and prevailed in two of his four ground duels.
Martinez just committed one foul, demonstrating his excellent discipline.
El Carnicero, who excels at the ball as usual for United, provided Argentina with a strong foundation on which to play offensively.
With 98 touches of the ball, he completed 83 of 89 passes for a 93% completion rate. Along with making one crucial pass, he also provided one great opportunity with a wonderful through ball over the top that was not completed by a careless Argentine attack.
The defending champions will play Chile again on Tuesday night (Wednesday am UK time), looking to win two straight games. Martinez will be hoping to log 90 minutes once more.
Alejandro Garnacho, United’s other participant, was once again unable to come off the bench and will be hoping for a chance to make his first impression on the tournament in his country’s upcoming match.