Commanders Field was a sea of light blue after 51,713 fans came out to see Guatemala and Argentina play for the second time. Their friendlies in Chicago and Washington D.C. were part of the 3 Estrellas Tour. Argentina notched a 4-1 victory over Guatemala with two braces — one from Lautaro Martinez and the other by Lionel Messi.
Argentina Starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Nahuel Molina, Lionel Messi, Giovani Lo Celso, Alexis Mac Allister, Valentin Carboni, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lautaro Martinez, Enzo Fernandez
Guatemala Starting XI: Nicholas Hagen, Jose Ardon, Jose Pinto, Nicolas Samayoa, Jose Morales, Marco Dominguez, Oscar Castellanos, Jonathan Franco, Oscar Santis, Elmer Cardoza, Rubio Rubin
Guatemala shocked the world champions just four minutes into the match with the first goal of the night. Guatemalan forward Rubio Rubin fired a shot on target that Emiliano Martinez parried to his left. In an effort to clear the ball, Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez took an off-balanced swipe at the ball but sent it backward into the net for an own goal.
Guatemala made a mistake of their own just a few minutes later when back-to-back errant back passes turned into a gifted goal for Argentina. Nicholas Hagen took a bad touch when he tried to pass it wide and it was intercepted by Lionel Messi. The No. 10 continued with the simple tap-in to draw the game level.
In the 40th minute, a foul was committed in the box that led to a penalty. Lautaro Martinez was the taker and even though keeper Nicholas Hagen guessed right, the Argentine put too much power behind his shot and beat him to his lower right corner.
In the 66th minute, Messi was played onside with a beautiful lob over the backline (that was determined onside). When he was 1 v 1 with Hagen, he sent a low cross to the opposite of the box to Lautaro Martinez who one-timed it into an open net.
Hagen stood strong for his side in the 72nd minute with a pair of back-to-back crucial saves, with the second against a dramatic bicycle from Angel Di Maria. Five minutes later, Messi found himself 1 v 1 with Hagen yet again, but this time, he went for glory himself with a soft lob around the keeper. Argentina had used all their subs for the night with Messi still on the pitch.
He went for a hat-trick in the 83rd minute with a sweet curler just inside the box but his effort went just wide of the far post.
Final stats (ARG/GUA)
Shots: 10 / 4
Shots on Goal: 7 / 1
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 7 / 0
Fouls: 9 / 11
Offside: 4 / 0
Argentina will prepare for their Copa América campaign that begins next Thursday, June 20, when they face Canada in Atlanta, GA. Guatemala will have a friendly next month, on July 27, against El Salvador.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Alex Hernandez