With a goal from Gondou, Argentina defeated Brazil and qualifies for Paris 2024

In the world of football there are games that must be won, regardless of the form. The match that Argentina and Brazil played today for the U-23 Olympic Qualifiers is an example of this. Disputing a place in the Olympic Games, against the lifelong rival: What does it matter how?

In that sense, Argentina complied. Thanks to a measured center of the left foot of Valentine Boat in front of Luciano Gondouthe “albiceleste” stamped its signature on the result and left the enemy, dry, hopeless, with nothing.

The situation on the boards of each team was clearly reflected in their intentions on the field. A draw was enough for Brazil to qualify. In that sense, there was neither “jogo bonito”, nor daring, nor any of those characteristics that are supposed to define the essence of the Brazilian game. Attacking his own ideals and for the good of the show, he showed a conservative side, giving Argentina all responsibility for the show.

The “albiceleste” accepted the deal and took center stage. Of course, with a certain timidity. With the opponent retreated behind midfield, she enjoyed possession of the ball, but she lacked creativity in the final third. Except for certain attacks of Thiago Almada (including a free kick that hit the post), Argentina failed to damage the opponent enough during the first half of the match.

In the second half, Brazil was encouraged and moved forward on the field. John Kennedy He entered electric and led the first Verdeamarelos advances of the party. At the worst moment in Argentina, Leandro Brey responded: his two interventions in just under ten minutes were key to keeping his team’s hopes alive.

How many drops have to fall to know that it is raining? How many goals did Luciano Gondou have to score to earn the total trust of Javier Mascherano?

It is unknown if it was a genuinely his own decision or due to the pressures of a possible defeat, but, in the end, Mascherano decided to let Gondou play from the beginning. And if there is something that the scorer had shown, it is that he does not need many opportunities to fulfill his mission. Thus, he was in charge of taking advantage of the clearest situation he had in the match and managed to score one of the most important goals for a youth national team in recent times.

With Brazilian media star Endrick off the field (he was replaced after a rather poor performance) and the presence of Claudio Echeverri in the midfield (he had entered before the goal), the process of the game was completely broken. Brazil decided to seriously attack for the first time in the match. Of course, to do so, he had to go beyond the will of eleven Argentines who would not give up their lead on the scoreboard for anything in the world. With certain reminiscences of the Copa América final that the same teams played in 2021, Argentina went to block each ball as if it were the last. If before an unbreakable force of will had characterized them, now their determination, sacrifice and personality became protagonists in Caracas.

In that sense, Almada deserves a separate paragraph. He put on the “10” of the Argentine National Team and the captain’s ribbon (with all that that implies) and it did not weigh on him at any time. Enganche had been the standard bearer of his team throughout the entire tournament and, in the toughest minutes of the competition, he was no exception.

In this way, despite the criticism, Javier Mascherano managed to fulfill his main objective. The team played a great tournament and, although they deserved to suffer much less, they finally managed to win a historic match and were able to get their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Journalistic production: Diego Caminos.