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A first half goal from Guido Rodriguez, his first in 11 international appearances, gave Argentina a 1-0 win over Uruguay in a leaden Copa America clash on Friday.
Uruguay hadn’t beaten Argentina in the Copa America since 1989 and they went behind early on to Rodriguez’s header.
The Real Betis midfielder started for his country for the first time since June 2019 and he justified that decision when he converted a cross from Lionel Messi after 10 minutes.
The goal gave Argentina all three points and condemned their neighbors to a losing start to their Copa campaign.
“We deserved to win,” said Argentinian midfielder Rodrigo de Paul.
“Today we tried to be more compact, to make it more difficult to score against. Up front we have monstrous players who can get goals at any moment of the match.”
The result in a game that was end-to-end but lacking in real excitement at a cavernously empty stadium in Brasilia leaves Uruguay joint bottom of Group A with no points, alongside Bolivia, who have played two and lost two.
Argentina move into joint top spot with four points alongside Chile, who beat Bolivia 1-0 earlier on Friday. Paraguay have three points from one game.
Striker Edinson Cavani was back for Uruguay after missing the last two games through suspension and he produced one of the few memorable moments for his side when he was unfortunate to see a loud shout for a penalty waved away after 26 minutes.
It was indicative of Uruguay’s unhappy night that although they had slightly more of the possession they never managed a shot on goal the entire match.
At the other end, Messi caused problems for Uruguay with his dribbles in the last third but he was frequently crowded out by Uruguayan defenders.
The result extended Argentina’s unbeaten run to 15 games since they lost in the semi-final of the last Copa America in 2019.
It also snapped a run of three consecutive draws and boosted the confidence of a side aware their great rival Brazil are scoring freely and are hot favorites to win a second consecutive Copa America playing at home.
“We’ve lacked a bit of luck to get victories (recently),” said Argentina's second half substitute Angel Di Maria.
“Today we managed to do that against a direct rival who are always contenders for the Copa America.”
"Brazil are the best team (so far)," he added. "We’re taking it step by step and the dream is alive, I hope we can make it come true. Argentina are always a candidate (for the title) but Brazil are at home and are doing things very well.”
Argentina's next game is against Paraguay on Monday, while Uruguay take on Chile the same day.
English-born striker gives Chile 1-0 win over Bolivia
A goal on his full debut from English-born striker Ben Brereton gave Chile a 1-0 win over Bolivia in their Copa America clash on Friday.
The Blackburn Rovers player made his debut for the country of his mother's birth at the end of Monday’s 1-1 draw with Argentina, and he made an immediate impact on his first start in Cuiaba.
The big striker gave Chile the perfect start after 10 minutes when he got on the end of a counter attack and coolly slotted the ball home from 15 meters out.
Brereton also forced Bolivian goalkeeper Carlos Lampe into at least two other good saves in the first half alone and was a handful for the Bolivian defence before being substituted in the 83rd minute.
Bolivia lost their opener 3-1 to Paraguay on Monday and they were without five players who tested positive for COVID-19, including top goalscorer Marcelo Martins.
Friday night's task proved too much for the depleted side against a rival team that won this tournament twice in a row in 2015 and 2016.
Even against a team missing injured striker Alexis Sanchez they could only muster three shots on target compared to Chile’s 11.
Eduardo Vargas had the ball in the net in injury time for Chile but the second goal was ruled off due to offside.
The result takes Chile to the top of Group A with four points, one point ahead of Paraguay. Argentina, who play Uruguay later on Friday in the Uruguayans opener, have one point.
Bolivia's Martins gets one-game ban for criticising Copa organisation
Bolivia striker Marcelo Martins has been banned for one game and fined $20,000 by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) after criticising the organisation for hosting the Copa America in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic.
Martins was one of three Bolivia players who tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve of their 3-1 opening loss to Paraguay.
He missed the game and posted some sharp words on social media about CONMEBOL’s last-minute decision to host the tournament in Brazil, a nation that has seen almost 500,000 people die from the virus.
“Thanks for this CONMEBOL,” Martins wrote on Instagram. “All the blame is totally yours. If someone died what are you going to do??? The only thing that’s important to you is MONEY. Is a player’s life worth nothing?”
He took down the comments and apologised but CONMEBOL banned the 34-year old from Bolivia’s next game against Chile on Friday. He can play against Uruguay in their third match on June 25.
Since Martins made the comments two more Bolivia players have tested positive for COVID-19.
Brazil’s Health Ministry said 27 players and officials have tested positive for coronavirus so far.
The oldest football tournament in the world, the Copa America was moved to Brazil two weeks before it kicked off after Argentina pulled out due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there.
