The Savior, the rival that the team will face this Friday Argentine national team in Philadelphia, scheduled three matches this week that FIFA allows for friendlies instead of the traditional two that are organized. And since the first of them played this Wednesday night, those led by Lionel Scaloni will face an adversary who will have his second demand in less than 48 hours. Yes, with that little rest and a trip from cold and windy Washington, where they tied 1-1 with Bonaire, with an unusual goal against.
After the cancellation in the middle of a conflict of the tour of China and the matches against the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, the Albiceleste team takes on devalued duels: it faces the match with El Salvador as its first test in the United States and next Tuesday it will be measured with Costa Rica, in California. In the case of the Salvadorans, they are clearly the more accessible rival of the two, but There are other points by which it appears to be a team with very limited resources.
Equality with Bonaire, a small island under Dutch law north of Venezuela and close to Aruba, whose representative team does not have a FIFA ranking, meant for El Salvador extend the series of games without winning to 20. The last time they celebrated a victory was on June 4, 2022, for the first round of the Concacaf Nations League, when they beat Granada 3-1 at home.
For this tour of the United States, coach David Doniga Lara -took over last January- He summoned 25 players, the same number as Scaloni for two games, and used 19 against Bonaire, with eight changes at halftime. The Spanish coach debuted in January with a 0-0 against Inter Miami, in which Lionel Messi played for a while and suffered a 2-0 defeat with Costa Rica in February, before this incredible triple date for the Salvadorans that will end on Tuesday in Houston against Honduras.
El Salvador had more of the ball against Bonaire and had good options to convert, but He had poor aim: He tried the goal more than 20 times and scored a goal, from Pablo Punyed with a header, to equalize seven minutes after a blooper in defense in which the Caribbeans had taken the advantage.
Germán Fuentes, almost in the number 4 position, He tried to give a pass to the goalkeeper in a play in which the Salvadorans tried to play, but Oscar Pleitez failed in his attempt to control the ball with his left and when he turned around he saw how it entered next to the far post. The tie brought some relief in a stadium where the fans showed some discomfort with the result obtained.
The incredible goal against El Salvador
With a more offensive team than in previous games and Nathan Ordaz As the most applied in attack, El Salvador used the duel as training for what is to come, three days after the players met in their country, some arrived late, made the trip and were announced that Three of the 25, including starting goalkeeper Mario González, would not be available “due to injury.” The coach only left three players on the field for the 90 minutes: Ordaz and defenders Julio Sibrian and Tereso Benítez.
“We have a team with more arrival, more depth and more finishing, but it costs us the goal. It will be a matter of trust, but we have evolved since this coaching staff took over and the games end up being training due to the trickle with which the footballers arrive. I am left with a better balance offensively, when in the other games it was the other way around. Against Argentina it’s going to be more complicated, we’re going to find a team that’s going to want to take the ball away from us,” DT described.
“We have the condition that We have to divide the squad, because we have less than 48 hours between one game and another. And I don’t think it’s better for Messi not to play, because Argentina is the best in the world and whoever plays will have a very high level. Anyone who doesn’t come from City comes from Inter Milan or United. Whoever replaces Messi is going to have an opportunity that if Leo were there, perhaps he would not have had. We are in conditions that we cannot choose and we know that what is important for us begins in June, with the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup,” Dóniga Lara concluded.