Substitutes Roger Martinez and Duvan Zapata were the goalscoring heroes as Colombia opened their Copa America campaign with a 2-0 victory over Argentina, handing an early blow to Lionel Messi’s latest attempt to win a senior international honour.
It was a deserved victory for a Colombia team who were better all over the pitch, while several Argentina players delivered lacklustre displays.
Check out how everyone fared with our Argentina player ratings.
Armani 6. Had no chance with either goal and cannot be blamed for this loss. Nervy with the ball at his feet.
Saravia 4. Forced onto the back foot on the right and looked inadequate, with both Colombia goals coming down his side.
Pezzella 7. Made key blocks to deny Martinez and Falcao in the first half and added an air of authority to a shaky defence.
Otamendi 5. Nearly gifted a goal with a horrible touch and rarely looked comfortable, but did come close with a header.
Tagliafico 6. The Ajax defender had his hands full defensively and therefore offered few moments of danger coming forward.
Paredes 6. A battling presence in midfield, but added little with the ball other than a long-range shot narrowly wide.
Rodriguez 5. Chased back to make a goal-saving tackle on James but largely struggled to impose himself and was replaced.
Lo Celso 6. Made some surging runs down the right in the first half. Faded after the interval, but curled a late chance over.
Messi 6. After a quiet first half he briefly flickered, but missed Argentina’s best chance with an off-target header and faded again.
Aguero 6. Ran himself into the ground with a hard-working outing, but didn’t get a sight of goal before being surprisingly replaced.
Di Maria 3. Invisible in the opening half, doing little in defence or attack, and was promptly dragged off at the break.
SUBSTITUTES
De Paul 7. Half-time replacement for Di Maria and a major improvement, injecting plenty of thrust and drawing a decent stop from Ospina.
Pizarro 5. Entered the fray for the final 25 minutes. Could have done more to close down Martinez for the winner.
Suarez 5. Shock late addition to the forward line in place of Aguero but had little chance to justify that decision.
