The nay-sayers have said that Lionel Messi doesn’t perform for Argentina the way he does for FC Barcelona.
He did more than quiet them in an international friendly match against the United States.
His Argentina side was rewarded with a goal in the 41st minute after Esteban Cambiasso finished a play set up by Messi after the “little lion” skillfully beat numerous defenders and played the ball across the goal mouth for Cambiasso to put away.
And the way Messi squeezed through tight gaps in the American defense, weaved his way around multiple players, and roamed all over the field in the first half reminded everyone of the way he plays at Barcelona.
No one could deny that.
The second half, unfortunately, was a different story.
The Argentinians looked like a different team, losing their sharpness and allowing the Americans to get comfortable playing and eventually — after a horrendous drop by Argentina’s goalkeeper — USA scored when New York Red Bulls‘ 18-year old Juan Agudelo tapped the ball past the fallen goalie to tie the score at 1-1.
Argentina was never able to get another goal and USA came away with a happy draw, but the Argentinians were left confused, wondering why the score wasn’t more like 5-0 instead of 1-1 in the end.
