Argentina’s 2018 World Cup qualifying struggles continued with a 1-1 home draw against bottom side Venezuela. By the time Argentina kicked off against Venezuela in Buenos Aires, they were down to sixth place in the table; outside the qualification slots and 90 minutes later, things had not got much better.
The 1-1 draw takes the side up to fifth, with crunch games to come next month at home to Peru (the team immediately above them) and away to Ecuador, themselves still clinging to hopes of making it to Russia.
Argentina’s qualification campaign is now on its third coach and its umpteenth breakdown. New man Jorge Sampaoli is hardly one to calm the nerves: At the best of times, he paces up and down his technical area as if he ran on batteries, endlessly yelling his frustration.
But he is a fascinating team builder, and the early signs were that his side was much improved from the one that drew 0-0 with Uruguay on Thursday.
The introduction of Javier Mascherano to the back line increased the quality of the passing from deep: The first clear chance of the game came when his pass set up Mauro Icardi for a shot well-blocked by Wuilker Farinez, Venezuela’s outstanding young goalkeeper.
The return from suspension of Ever Banega gave Lionel Messi a partner in the generation of attacking ideas, while the introduction of Lautaro Acosta wide on the right also was an improvement: Using the left-footed Marcos Acuna there on Thursday ended up playing into the hands of their opponents.
Argentina started well but lost impetus when Angel Di Maria, looking so dangerous, pulled up early with a muscle injury. Acuna came on to play on his natural left flank but, for most of the time, without the same bite and threat as Di Maria.
And so the key question was posed: If Venezuela could hang on, would a moment come when their attacking pace might embarrass the lack of speed in Argentina’s back three? The moment came early in the second half.
A quick combination saw Sergio Corbova slide a diagonal pass to the left for John Murillo to outpace the defence and beat Sergio Romero. Argentina responded well, levelling within five minutes.
In a rare lapse, Venezuela were caught without defensive cover, and Acuna did well to force his way to the byline and turn across the face of goal.
Under pressure from Icardi, left-back Rolf Feltscher turned into his own net. The expectation was that Argentina would shake off their nerves and rebound from the shock to cruise to a win.
But it never looked likely. Indeed, a second Venezuelan strike looked equally possible as they dug in deep and realised they were in sight of avoiding defeat for the first time in a World Cup qualifier on Argentine soil.
The hosts, meanwhile, looked as if they were running through thick mud — the silence and occasional groans of the Buenos Aires crowd made it obvious that the fans had lost belief.
Messi, strangely quiet in the second half, carved out a stoppage-time chance for substitute Javier Pastore, but Farinez was there to block once more, as he and his teammates did not deserve to be on the losing side. Argentina, then, still have plenty to do.
