Last night, Argentine booked their place in the Sunday’s grand finale with an emphatic 3-0 win over Croatia in the first encounter of the World Cup semi-final.
Most of us expected the Albiceleste to suffer against the resilient defenses of Zlatko Dalic, but Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez made it look easy. The duo combined with one another to score three goals while the Croatians never truly threatened Emiliano Martinez on the opposite end.
While Angel Di Maria was tipped to start, it was another Juventus star who got the nod for Argentina.
Leandro Paredes hadn’t started a match for the South American giants since their opening defeat to Saudi Arabia, but the midfielder seemed to be in a fine form.
The 28-year-old was on the pitch for 62 minutes before leaving his place for Lisandro Martinez.
According to ilBianconero, Paredes made 36 successful passes out of 39 attempts (92%) and 1 shot on goal.
Defensively, he contributed with five tackles (four won) and also won an aerial duel on his one attempt.
The one negative note about his display is the three lost balls, but it doesn’t change the verdict on what was an overall solid performance.
As for Di Maria, it seems that he hasn’t fully recovered just yet as he remained on the pitch for the duration of the match.
Argentina will now play in Sunday’s final against the winner of tonight’s clash between France and Morocco.
