Written by Grant Wahl at SI.com
Led by a brilliant Lionel Messi, Argentina outplayed and outclassed the U.S. from the very start and came away with a 4-0 victory in the semifinals of the Copa América Centenario on Tuesday.
The outcome of the game wasn’t in doubt after Argentina’s Ezequiel Lavezzi scored a third-minute goal past a hesitating Brad Guzan. Argentina dominated possession and deployed pressure defense to win the ball back almost instantly from a U.S. team that looked overawed by the occasion and the opponent.
The other Argentine goals came courtesy of Messi (on an outrageous free kick) and Gonzalo Higuaín (two second-half strikes).
Argentina advanced to the Copa América final on Sunday against the winner of the Chile-Colombia semifinal. The U.S. will play in the third-place game on Saturday against the loser of the other semifinal.
Here are my three thoughts on the game:
Klinsmann asked for courage and didn’t show it in his lineup
Look, it was always going to be hard for a U.S. team that was missing three starters on card suspensions (Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya and Bobby Wood). But U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann said his team would play with courage and go for it, before sending out a conservative lineup that included 33-year-old Chris Wondolowski at forward. Klinsmann corrected himself after halftime by moving Gyasi Zardes up top for Wondo, but it was 45 minutes too late.
Argentina was fantastic in this game, but the U.S. could and should have played better soccer. Venezuela had put Argentina on its heels at times in their 4-1 quarterfinal loss, but the U.S. players never did the same in what will be viewed as a missed opportunity with the eyes of America on them.
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