Argentina 1-2 Uruguay: Post-Messi era begins with defeat

Uruguay beat Argentina 2-1 in an international friendly at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires on Friday. The result meant Argentina lost their first match since Lionel Messi's farewell to the national team. The player who made the difference on the night was Maxi Araújo.

Uruguay went ahead through a Leonardo Balerdi own goal and doubled their lead shortly afterwards with Araújo's goal. Julián Álvarez's goal gave Argentina hope, but it was not enough to bring them level.

Argentina started quickly, and Álvarez's early shot was saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Cristopher Fiermarín. Enzo Fernández then saw a shot come back off the defence and go behind for a corner, and Fiermarín also kept the ball out when Facundo Medina tried his luck. With a Nico Paz header going wide, Argentina failed to turn their first-half pressure into goals and paid the price at the start of the second half.

In the third minute of the second half, a cross came into the penalty area and the ball Lisandro Martínez was trying to clear struck Balerdi and ended up in the Argentina net. Then, in the 53rd minute, the ball went in off Araújo from a corner taken by Giorgian de Arrascaeta, making it 2-0.

After that goal Argentina failed to take their chances through Thiago Almada, Martínez and Nico Paz, before pulling one back in the 73rd minute when Álvarez scored from Gianluca Prestianni's pass. No equaliser came in the time that remained, and Uruguay, under new head coach Diego Forlán, left the pitch with a third straight win.

Question marks for Argentina

Messi, who brought his international career to a close at the start of October, had said goodbye to the fans in last month's friendly win over Benin. The Uruguay match was the first test of the post-Messi era, and the chances that went begging led to defeat.

Argentina finished the match with 17 shots, 6 of them on target, producing 1.32 expected goals (xG), while Álvarez, who carried the attack in Messi's absence, hit the target with three of his four shots. Uruguay, by contrast, had 3 shots on target from 6 attempts, producing 0.38 xG.

Argentina, under head coach Lionel Scaloni, whose contract was recently extended until 2030, will face Costa Rica in Córdoba on Tuesday.