Argentina vs Venezuela, 5 Talking Points; FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifying
Score: Argentina 1-1 Venezuela
Scorers: Mauro Icardi 54'; Jhon Murillo 49'
After the drab 0-0 in Montevideo, Argentina upped their game a notch or two against lowly Venezuela but still found it tough going against a side that was determined to play for pride. In a superbly entertaining match, Venezuela took the lead through Jhon Murillo's superb counter before Mauro Icardi got his debut goal for Los Albiceleste after some great work by Marcos Acuna on Argentina's left flank
Argentina started brightly but dipped slightly after Angel Di Maria had to be withdrawn following the recurrence of that perma-headache for the modern Argentine coach - a twang of his fragile-as-glass hamstring but Venezuela defended gamely and did well enough to earn a point away at Buenos Aires leaving Argentina in a precarious position.
Read, Also - South America World Cup Qualifying Standings: Will Argentina qualify for the 2018 World Cup?
Here are the five main takeaways from the entertaining affair:
#5. Jorge Sampaoli has to find a winning formula, and he has to find it by October
Argentina have scored 16 goals in the 16 World Cup qualifying matches they've played this time around. Only Bolivia have scored less - and they have 14. Considering the attacking talent that La Albiceleste have on display, this is nothing short of embarrassing and it was in a bid to correct this abysmal record in front of goal that the Argentine Federation appointed the attack-minded Jorge Sampaoli.
His competitive record, though, reads - Played 2, Drawn 2, Scored 1, Conceded 1... and that 1 came against a Venezuela side that had conceded 34 times in their previous 15 matches!
If Sampaoli didn't understand the magnitude of the task that lay ahead of him when he took over, he sure does now. At Chile, he walked into a squad that had already been honed by years of running like mad men for Marcelo Bielsa and at Sevilla he had the luxury of interacting with, influencing, and coaching his charges day-in and day-out throughout the season. He has neither advantage here.
The current Argentine side still play a brand of lethargic, slow-moving, Messi-dependent football that is everything Sampaoli is against - and he has a mammoth task trying to put his stamp on the team before the do-or-die fixtures of October roll into town.