Argentina drew 1-1 with Venezuela in a stadium that was nearly flooded

the On Thursday, the Argentine national team suffered from the terrible condition of the stadium On the field Maturin Monument and It ended in a 1-1 draw with Venezuela In the first commitment of this double date South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

The team he leads Lionel Scaloniwhich was there The return of Lionel Messi and the sensitive loss of Emiliano MartinezIts main tool: game development, has been cancelled. The large puddles on the field, as a result of the rain that fell in the morning, made it impossible to move the ball, as it stopped in the water all the time.

Argentina opened the match early, with some luck, because goalkeeper Vinotino, Rafael Romohe rejected with his fists and toward the center a forward position that seemed relatively simple. The ball bounced off Yordan Osorio and was left Nicolas Otamendi Who pushed him towards the net while the bracket was empty.

The equalizer came for Venezuela in the 65th minute And hand in hand with Field figure, Salomon Rondon. Good escape to the left Everson Sotildoon one of the few occasions where the ball rotated normally, ended in a A precise cross was struck powerfully by the former River Plate player, making Geronimo Rulli’s trip futile.

While it is true that the current world champion has been hurt by the poor condition of the field, it is also true that His idea of ​​defending the advantage by trying to serve balls ended up falteringto the point at which The last 15 minutes of the first half, and in the first 20 minutes of the second half, his opponent surrounded him. He relied mainly on positions that made the defensive line of German Pezzella and Otamendi uncomfortable. At that precise moment Rondon’s goal came.

Messi was not a factor in the match. He lost many balls due to gaps in the pitch, and in the only risky game he played, after a very good pass from Rodrigo De Paul in the 69th minute, he lost one-on-one to Romo.

The final stages of the match witnessed fatigue for both teamswhich led to the pace decreasing significantly until it sometimes became boring.

Argentina added a difficult point and continues to do so The only leader in the qualifiers with 19 units.