In the most attended soccer match in Alabama history, Jordan-Hare Stadium packed 88,043 fans on Tuesday as the defending World Cup champions took the pitch against Iceland.
Heavy afternoon rainfall and flood warnings hardly impacted the spirits of the sold-out crowd, which had been waiting in anticipation for the venue’s first-ever soccer event since its announcement on April 9. Fortunately, the weather cleared just before kickoff, and the early stages of the match were played under an orange-painted sky.
The final match of the United States’ Road to 26 campaign and the final stop on Argentina’s tour of the American South, the squad arrived in Auburn, Alabama, on Monday after defeating Honduras at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field on Saturday. Tuesday marked Argentina’s final friendly before World Cup group-stage play begins next week.
Predictably, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni remained conservative with his star talent. Many of his squad’s most familiar names, including Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister and, of course, Lionel Messi, only saw limited action as they attempted to stay fresh for tournament play.
This marked an especially important step in recovery for Messi, who saw game action for the first time since May 24 after suffering a hamstring strain and muscle fatigue in an MLS fixture for Inter Miami.
Iceland created multiple early chances as Argentina’s experimental starting lineup settled in. Mikael Egill Ellertsson nearly put the underdogs ahead early but blasted an open shot from the goal box just over the crossbar.
Midfielder Valentín Barco opened the scoring in the eighth minute for Argentina, beating Iceland goalkeeper Elías Rafn Ólafsson with a low drive from the edge of the box to the roar of Jordan-Hare Stadium’s sellout crowd. Barco, 21, is the youngest player on Argentina’s World Cup roster, representing the Albicelestes on the world’s biggest stage for the first time in his career.
Argentina maintained its 1-0 advantage into halftime as Jordan-Hare Stadium continued its regular Saturday traditions. After Aurea, Auburn University Raptor Center's golden eagle, took flight during pregame and former Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson was named honorary captain, the venue erupted into a minute of "Swag Surfin’'" as fans awaited the final 45 minutes of play.
Argentina retook the field in the second half to a series of “We Want Messi!” chants as the squad began a slew of mid-game substitutions. Minutes later, the global superstar began warming up on the sidelines before finally taking the pitch in the 70th minute.
Just minutes after entering the game, Messi created a solo chance with a through ball to Lautaro Martínez, who drew a foul in the box that set up a penalty kick. With tens of thousands of eager fans on his side, Messi took a stutter-step and unleashed a shot over the goalkeeper’s head, clinching his 911th career goal and Argentina’s second of the contest in, by far, the venue’s loudest moment of the night.
"We, as Argentinians, always keep the same hope, the same desire to be able to keep achieving big things like the ones we’ve already achieved," Messi said postgame, translated from Spanish. "It’s a group that doesn’t stop competing. It’s been showing that, whatever the match, the competition and wherever it is, it always competes, it always wants more.”
Thiago Almada capped off Argentina’s victory in the 87th minute, burying a goalmouth pass from Rodrigo De Paul as his squad completed its second clean sheet in a row.
Argentina will face Algeria on Tuesday, June 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, for its World Cup opener.
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