On Thursday a match titled Finalissima was presented where this match brought together the 2021 Copa America champions and the 2020 Euro champions. Previously in 1985 and 1993 there was also a similar tournament where this trophy was called the Artemio Franchi trophy or also called the European/South American Nations cup. This single match organized by UEFA and CONMEBOL is similar to the intercontinental cup at club level which pits the champions of the European Champions Cup or UEFA Champions League against the Libertadores Cup.
In the 1985 match which was held in Paris, the country that came out as champion was France, while for the 1993 match Argentina came out as champion after winning the match at Mar de Plata. After that, the Artemio Franchi cup competition was stopped. The King Fahd Cup or Confederations Cup was first started in 1997 which was organized by FIFA until 2017 was officially stopped by FIFA on March 15, 2019.
However, in order to enhance cooperation between UEFA and CONMEBOL, on 12 February 2020 a memorandum of understanding was signed as part of the joint UEFA-CONMEBOL committee agreement. On 28 September 2021 they confirmed that the Euro and Copa America champions would face each other in an intercontinental match starting in June 2022 during the international break. The memorandum of understanding valid until 2028 includes a specific provision regarding the opening of a joint office in London, England where on 22 March 2022 UEFA announced that matches would be held at Wembley Stadium.
In the early hours of this morning when the match was held, the stadium was attended by 87,000 spectators where the stadium was dominated by Argentinean supporters. Both teams were strengthened by their main players. The Argentine squad, which was coached by Lionel Scaloni, used a 4-2-3-1 strategy where Emiliano Martinez was the goalkeeper for Aston Villa.
Then the left and right wingback positions are filled by Nicolas Tagliafico and Nahuel Molina. For centre-back the Argentine coach put Nicolas Otamendi on the left and Cristian Romero for the centre-back on the right. Then into the Argentine midfield there was Guido Rodriguez as a central midfielder on the left and Rodrigo De Paul filling in the center midfielder on the right.
For attack power, there are 4 players including Angel Di Maria who fills the right wing midfielder position, while Giovanio Lo Celso fills the left wing midfielder position. Lionel Messi himself is placed in the middle as an attacking midfielder who is useful as a game regulator. There is also Lautaro Martinez as the lone striker for the Argentina squad.
Meanwhile, the Gli Azzuri team, the nickname of the Italian national team which was managed by Roberto Mancini, used a 4-3-3 strategy where Gianlugi Donnaruma is currently playing for Paris Saint-Germain. At the defender position there is Giovanni Di Lorenzo as the right wingback, Emerson Palmieri as the left wingback and the duo of Leonardo Bonnuci and Giorgio Chiellini as center back.
Then for the middle position, Roberto Mancini installed 3 midfielders, namely Matteo Pesina on the right, Jorginho in the middle, and Nicolo Barella on the left. For the attackers the Italian squad uses Federico Bernadeschi as the right wing, Giacomo Raspadori as the left wing and for their executor using Andrea Belotti.
During the course of the Argentina versus Italy match, the referee who took the lead was Piero Maza who was assisted by Christian Schiemann and Claudio Rios as assistant referees. Then the fourth referee was Jesus Gil Manzano and Alejandro Hernandez and Juan Martinez Munuera as VAR. The first half kick off whistle was blown at 01.45 WIB by the referee with Argentina as the first ball taker.
In the early minutes they controlled the game by playing a quick short pass to break down the Italian defense. The Argentine squad’s attack was successful in the 28th minute thanks to the action of Lionel Messi who managed to get past G. Di Lorenzo and was successfully completed by Lautaro Martinez. 18 minutes later Emilliano Martinez crossed for Lautaro Martinez and it was controlled well, then Lautaro Martinez fed Angel Di Maria who escaped the offside trap.
The bait was successfully completed sweetly by Angel Di Maria through a chip kick that managed to outwit Italian goalkeeper Gianlugi Donnaruma. The goal was to close the first half, Argentina winning 2-0 over Italy.
15 minutes after halftime the referee blew the second half kick off whistle, it was the Italian squad’s turn to take the ball. In a left position Roberto Mancini racked his brain by making 3 substitutions at once by entering Lazari, Locatelli, and Scamaca to replace Belloti, Bernadeschi and Chiellini.
Currently, the Argentine squad is still consistently carrying out attacks after attacks, as evidenced by several kicks made by Lionel Messi which can still be ignored by Gianlugi Donnaruma. Not only that, Angel Di Maria also got a golden opportunity through a volly kick outside the penalty box as a result of Lionel Messi’s bait even though it could still be thwarted by Gianlugi Donnaruma.
Argentina got another golden opportunity after Lionel Messi’s pass crossed the reach of Gianlugi Donnaruma although Lo Celso couldn’t maximize it. After being under pressure for a long time, Italy had a chance through a long-range shot from Locatelli but it also failed because the ball was hit by an Argentine player.
The La Albiceleste squad (the nickname of the Argentine national team) almost added to the score when Donnaruma did not receive the ball from Bonucci perfectly. Italy almost made Emilliano Martinez’s goal conceded through Scamacca’s opportunity even though the ball was still over the crossbar. In the 90+1 minute the Argentine squad made a substitution where Di Maria and Lo Celso were withdrawn to be replaced by Paulo Dybala and Gonzalez.
After 3 minutes, Paulo Dybala scored a goal from Messi’s penetration which made the ball loose and made Dybala free to kick towards the left corner of Donnaruma’s goal. The goal closed the Finalissima match where Argentina managed to win with a final score of 3-0. In that match Argentina beat the stats with 17 shots to 7 and 10 shots on goal to 3. For possession of the ball itself, Argentina has a 56% advantage compared to 46% with a passing accuracy of 87%. In the 2022 Finalissima match, Lionel Messi as captain of the Argentine team came out as Man of the Match with 2 assists.
ASL
