The Albiceleste captain was powerless to prevent his side dropping more points in World Cup qualifying
Paraguay pulled off a stunning home victory over Lionel Messi's Argentina on Thursday evening, defeating the Albiceleste 2-1 thanks to a second-half header from Omar Alderete. La Albirroja took all three points in the crucial World Cup Qualifier to maintain their sixth-place position in the South American standings. Argentina, meanwhile, have only claimed victory once in their past four qualifiers now, as Messi & Co. are seemingly hitting a roadblock as the calendar year ends.
Things started off well for the hosts, with Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez finding the back of the net just 11 minutes into the match. Paraguay responded quickly, though, drawing level in the 19th minute off a genuinely stupendous overhead kick from Antonio Sanabria.
The two teams went in level at halftime but Argentina lost star defender Cristiano Romero to a reported foot injury during the interval. He was replaced by Marseille's Leonardo Balerdi, who made the mistake that led to Paraguay's winner. Balerdi and centerback partner Nicolas Otamendi did not communicate in the box and a delightful in-swinging cross from Inter Miami teenage star Diego Gomez found Alderete, who headed home.
Argentina have now dropped points against Colombia, Venezuela and Paraguay in recent World Cup Qualifiers. Despite that, though, they still remain atop the standings with 22 points ahead of Tuesday's meeting with Peru – the Albiceleste's final fixture of 2024.
GOAL rates Argentina's players from Estadio Defensores del Chaco…
