http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-Rica-c2877 - Half Time Report - Copa America 2011
Argentina’s hopes of qualifying for the next round of the Copa http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 2011 were hanging by a threat as they were involved in a must-win match against Costa Rica in the last round of the group stages. The hosts found it difficult in the first two games as
their coach Sergio Batista couldn’t play the right cards at the right time.
While being involved in this difficult fixture, Sergio http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vitalô-c40903 changes which later changed the cause of the game.
While the goalkeeper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Colombia-c2873. The most experienced
player in the Argentinean line-up, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-Milito-c14321 and Nicolas Burdisso who featured in the centre back position.
The midfield took a different shape. While http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Gago-c13652 and Angel Di Maria formed a two man centre midfield partnership. While Gago took care of the right half of the midfield it was Angel
Di Maria who took charge on the left – basically because of his stronger left foot.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 played his role just off the strikers as Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain were introduced as the two centre forwards. Sergio Aguero played as a left striker while Gonzalo Higuain played as the right striker.
On the other hand, the Costa Rican coach http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ricardo-c30950 La Volpe played his favourite 4-3-3 against Argentina. Moreira featured between the two sticks and he was assisted by four defenders. Acosta played in the right back role while Duarte played on the left. Calvo
and Salvatierra played in the centre back position. Mora Mora played in the holding midfield while Leal and Cubero connected the midfield with the attack. Elinzondo and Campbell were on the right and left flank, respectively. The sole striker of the team was
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Martinez-c24468.
The first half was quite eventful especially for the Argentinean side. Despite creating a lot of chances, they only managed to score a single goal. It was the man who scored the only goal for the Argentineans in the tournament, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-c33030 Aguero, who found the
opener right before half time.
As the match kicked off, the Argentineans showed how much they wanted to win this match. It was Higuain who tried his luck on goal during the second minute of the game but he couldn’t really find the target.
With only seven minutes gone, Argentina won a free in a dangerous position. Lionel Messi delivered a perfect cross towards Gonzalo Higuain who simply couldn’t knock the ball towards the goal despite being only seven yards from it. It was a decent save from
Moreira which kept the game alive for both the teams.
Two minutes later, Lionel Messi again stepped up and created an outstanding opportunity for the Argentineans. After getting past three Costa Rican defenders, Messi simply shot the ball towards the goal but it was deflected and it went out of play.
Gonzalo Higuain got another opportunity during the 12th minute after Messi and Aguero linked up on the left flank. Higuain could easily have scored the goal but he couldn’t find the target yet again.
Costa Rica got their first opportunity during the 24th minute when Mora decided to take a shot on goal from 25 yards out. Even though the ball just went over the bar, it was worth a try.
The Argentineans were simply on fire as they couldn’t wait to find the opener. It was during the 26th minute when Sergio Aguero took a corner and the Argentinean centre back headed the ball which managed to hit the cross bar. It was the closest
that the Argentineans came to scoring the goal.
Lionel Messi created another great opportunity during the 43rd minute when he passed the ball to Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentinean could have easily scored the opener but his shot couldn’t find the target yet again. Higuain was quite off the target
throughout the first half.
One minute of extra time was awarded to both the teams and that one minute turned out to be a moment of magic for the Argentineans. The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-c9458 Rican goal
stopper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Moreira-c26795. The deflected ball found Aguero’s feet and the Atletico Madrid star made no mistake from close range as he gave Argentina the well deserved lead.
The first half ended and the score line was 1-0 in favour of Argentina. The Argentineans were simply brilliant throughout the first forty five minutes but they wasted a lot of opportunities which could later be costly for them.
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