In the first semi-final of Copa América, Argentina played Canada in a repeat of the opening match of the tournament. Argentina came out 2-0 winners to advance to the final, beating Jesse Marsch’s side by the same scoreline as they did in the opening match.
This tactical analysis will be in the form of a match analysis, where we will take a look at one key takeaway from each side’s performance. This will help to give fans a better idea of some of the tactics and tactical ideas of both coaches, as well as how Argentina were able to come out on top to advance to their second straight Copa América final.
Lineups
For Argentina, Lionel Scaloni made two changes to the side that beat Ecuador on penalties in the quarter-final, with Scaloni sticking with a 4-4-2 formation. Emiliano Martínez kept his place in goal, with the back four in front of him having one personnel change. Nicolás Tagliafico kept his place at left-back, with the Premier League partnership of Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero keeping their place at the centre of defence. Scaloni’s change in the back four was at right back, with Gonzalo Montiel replacing Atlético Madrid’s Nahuel Molina. The other change was in the midfield four, with Ángel Di María replacing Nicolás González. Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández and Rodrigo De Paul kept their places in the side. Up top, Manchester City striker Julián Álvarez partnered Lionel Messi.
For Canada, Jesse Marsch made one change, as well as a switch of formation, to the side that beat Venezuela on penalties in the quarter-final. Maxime Crépeau kept his place in goal, with an unchanged back four, left to right, of captain Alphonso Davies, Derek Cornelius, Moïse Bombito, and Celtic’s Alistair Johnston at right back. The change came in the midfield, with Marsch opting to match Argentina’s flat 4-4-2 system, as opposed to the 4-2-3-1 that he deployed against Venezuela. Jacob Shaffelburg and Richie Laryea kept their places as the wide midfielders, with new Marseille signing Ismaël Koné coming into the midfield to partner Stephen Eustaquio, replacing Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio. Up top, Jonathan David was partnered with Mallorca striker Cyle Larin.
Canada’s setup out of possession
The key takeaway that we wanted to look at for Canada was their tactical setup out of possession, with Jesse Marsch opting to defend in more of a compact mid-block, with the goal to eliminate Argentina’s ability to play from the back and progress through the two central midfielders, instead looking to force them into the fullbacks in the wide channels where they could look to engage and lock the play to one side.
The data viz graphic above shows the average defensive territory of Canada from this semi-final, and we can see the emphasis on defensive actions occurring in the central areas of the pitch. We can also see how Marsch looked for his side to put more pressure on the right side of Argentina’s defence, with this being the way they tended to force Scaloni’s side to play when they were able to block the central areas. While they did look to press at times, most of Canada’s defensive actions tended to occur around the edge of Argentina’s defensive third, with the front two of Canada usually looking to sit off when Argentina’s centre-backs were in possession unless there was a pressing cue that activated them.
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