Buenos Aires, March 26 (BNA): Argentina scored two goals in three minutes late in the second half, including a bizarre effort from Lionel Messi, to cement a 3-0 win over Venezuela in Friday’s World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires. .
Argentina had already qualified for Qatar before Friday’s game and were on top throughout the match against the bottom-placed South American qualifying group and the only team out of the 10 South American teams not to make it to the World Cup finals, Reuters reported.
They achieved the breakthrough they deserved with the pressure they deserved ten minutes before the break when Nicolas Gonzalez sent in Rodrigo de Paul’s low cross from six metres.
Substitute Angel Di Maria scored a superb second in the 79th minute when he pulled in a pass from De Paul and then fired the ball over three Venezuelan defenders from outside the penalty area.
Messi himself got the third goal three minutes later when he fired in a pass from Di Maria before firing past goalkeeper and Welker Farines.
De Paul said: “We are very happy, we love playing with this shirt. The best thing about this group is that it treats every match like a final.”
“And that’s it. Never give up.”
It was Venezuela’s 10th defeat in their last 12 games, and the win extended Argentina’s unbeaten streak under coach Lionel Scaloni to 30 matches going back to July 2019.
The hosts, who were without four suspended players for violating COVID-19 quarantine rules before the September game with suspended Brazil, did not lose to Venezuela in eight qualifiers at home.
The two-time world champion and current Copa America champion in Qatar will be joined by Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay, while Peru, Colombia and Chile will compete for fifth place and the play-off against a team from the Asian Confederation.
The final round of matches will be played next Tuesday.