Argentina extends winning streak without Messi

American Angel di Maria shined with a free kick, helping Argentina beat Costa Rica 3-1 in a FIFA friendly match.

Goals: Di Maria 52, Allister 56, Lautaro 77 - Ugalde 34

Argentina won both of their March 2024 friendlies, despite missing captain Lionel Messi through injury. They defeated El Salvador 3-0 and Costa Rica 3-1, with Di Maria scoring the first goal. Against the 54th ranked team in the world, Costa Rica, the former Man Utd midfielder shone with a free kick to equalize 1-1 for the reigning world champions.

Di Maria (left) in the match against Costa Rica at Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, California, USA on the evening of March 26, 2024.

Di Maria has scored 30 goals for Argentina in 138 games, notably the goal that made it 2-0 in the 2022 World Cup final against France. However, the 36-year-old midfielder announced that he would retire from the national team after the Copa America in the summer of 2024. Whenever Messi is absent, Di Maria is the captain of Argentina, and he has shown that he is worthy of the armband.

The midfielder, who plays for Benfica, was the best player on the night of March 26 in Los Angeles, receiving a score of 9.6 from Sofascore . Not only did he score the equalizer, he also dribbled past players five times, creating two good chances for his teammates to finish but failed to score. Apart from Di Maria, no other player in the match received a score of 8 or higher.

Argentina's other two goals were scored more easily, first with a close-range header from Alexis Mac Allister. Then Rodrigo de Paul passed the ball to striker Lautaro Martinez to break down the right side of the penalty area, and fired into the far corner to seal a 3-1 victory for Argentina.

This could be Argentina's last friendly match before meeting Canada in the first round of the 2024 Copa America group stage on June 21. The group also includes Chile and Peru, opponents who are weaker than Lionel Scaloni's team.

Messi is expected to be fit for Copa America, and he could even return to play as early as April 2024, with Inter Miami facing Monterrey in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals - a tournament considered the North and Central American Cup C1.

Hoang An

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