Argentina coach Gerardo Martino will leave his starting line-up untouched as he bids to reach the Copa America final, maintaining the same XI which battled past Colombia on penalties in Saturday’s last-eight game.
Martino’s charges will take on Paraguay in the semi-final tomorrow evening in the city of Concepción, in a repeat of the first game of Group B. The Guaraní come into the game with great confidence having taken down Brazil, also via a shoot-out, to meet their neighbours.
The coach took a practice session today in Viña del Mar behind closed doors, and opted to train with an unchanged line-up from Saturday. The men who lined up were Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Rojo; Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Javier Pastore; Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero and Ángel Di María.
There had been speculation that Martino would make changes, bearing in mind that Messi, Agüero and Mascherano have a yellow card and would miss the final if they picked up another tomorrow. Perhaps mindful of Paraguay’s strong campaign, however, the coach ultimately opted to put out his strongest line-up.
At stake in Concepción is the chance to make the Copa America final for the first time since 2007, when the Albiceleste lost out to Brazil in the showpiece game. Paraguay meanwhile were runners-up in the last edition of the tournament four years ago, losing 3-0 to Uruguay.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald