It was a victory, against an always difficult rival. Argentina, previous to last night’s game, had not beaten Paraguay for 39 years in a World Cup qualifying game.
But it was not only about the scoreline, it was about the performance.
Once again the team spirit that had been lacking for many years showed up, and it seems that the Managers keeps working hard on that side of things.
The other thing that we have to consider is that finally it looks like, no matter who the 11 players on the pitch are, there is a philosophy of play and everyone follows it, and know their role within it.
In the times of Basile ( his second run as Manager), Maradona and Batista, we all wanted to see unity and a system. Good to see we have it now, and it is working very well.
A few changes from the last qualifier, as Zabaleta, Mascherano, Clemente and Aguero were not present.
But everybody found its place and, it all started very lively, with Lavezzi involved, Di Maria moving from side to side, Higuain positioning himself in the box, where he hurts teams the most, Gago and Brana in Paraguays side of the pitch, suffocating the visiting team, forcing them into losing the ball.
The only one that was not at his best at the beginning was Messi.
And after 2 minutes, Di Maria scored at the first serious attack, and showed once again that when going forward Argentina causes fear to any defence.
Paraguay were forced to come out a little bit more, and that started bringing more spaces fro Messi, who started moving mnore freely, seeing more of the ball and being more himself as time went by.
Not much work defensively so far to do, but one can see that there are still doubts, communication issues and frailties that need to be worked on.
Garay is very safe and always positions himself rightly, but with Rojo and Fernandez, have not formed a partnership worth feeling sure about.
On the pluses is that Burdisso has still to come back on the frame from injury, and his experience could help strengthening that area.
Before the half an hour an incredible Brana handball inside the area, gave Paraguay a penalty and things were level again.
With the 1-1 the visitors self belief grew and even if they did not create any situations in front of goal, enjoyed more possession than the hosts, for the following 10 minutes or so.
However they lost concentration, and they let Higuain get the ball right inside the box, and from there he rarely misses.
That knocked the energy out of the visiting team, and brought the best of Argentina.
For the last 15 minutes of the first half and the whole of the second they passed the ball beautifully, looking to hurt Paraguay more and more.
Messi hit the woodwork twice, and started becoming more and more of a problem for their opponents.
Anytime Argentina lost the ball, the forwards tracked down and helped the rest of the team getting possession back.
And the pearl of the night came, as you would expect, when Lionel Messi placed his free kick way away from the reach of Villar, who did his best and even got a touch, but the accuracy and strength of the shot would have beaten any other keeper too.
It was 3-1 in the end. Deserved, with plenty to be happy about, with clear signs that Argentina are on the right road if they are ever going to materialise their potential.
But it was not only about the scoreline, it was about the performance.
Once again the team spirit that had been lacking for many years showed up, and it seems that the Managers keeps working hard on that side of things.
The other thing that we have to consider is that finally it looks like, no matter who the 11 players on the pitch are, there is a philosophy of play and everyone follows it, and know their role within it.
In the times of Basile ( his second run as Manager), Maradona and Batista, we all wanted to see unity and a system. Good to see we have it now, and it is working very well.
A few changes from the last qualifier, as Zabaleta, Mascherano, Clemente and Aguero were not present.
But everybody found its place and, it all started very lively, with Lavezzi involved, Di Maria moving from side to side, Higuain positioning himself in the box, where he hurts teams the most, Gago and Brana in Paraguays side of the pitch, suffocating the visiting team, forcing them into losing the ball.
The only one that was not at his best at the beginning was Messi.
And after 2 minutes, Di Maria scored at the first serious attack, and showed once again that when going forward Argentina causes fear to any defence.
Paraguay were forced to come out a little bit more, and that started bringing more spaces fro Messi, who started moving mnore freely, seeing more of the ball and being more himself as time went by.
Not much work defensively so far to do, but one can see that there are still doubts, communication issues and frailties that need to be worked on.
Garay is very safe and always positions himself rightly, but with Rojo and Fernandez, have not formed a partnership worth feeling sure about.
On the pluses is that Burdisso has still to come back on the frame from injury, and his experience could help strengthening that area.
Before the half an hour an incredible Brana handball inside the area, gave Paraguay a penalty and things were level again.
With the 1-1 the visitors self belief grew and even if they did not create any situations in front of goal, enjoyed more possession than the hosts, for the following 10 minutes or so.
However they lost concentration, and they let Higuain get the ball right inside the box, and from there he rarely misses.
That knocked the energy out of the visiting team, and brought the best of Argentina.
For the last 15 minutes of the first half and the whole of the second they passed the ball beautifully, looking to hurt Paraguay more and more.
Messi hit the woodwork twice, and started becoming more and more of a problem for their opponents.
Anytime Argentina lost the ball, the forwards tracked down and helped the rest of the team getting possession back.
And the pearl of the night came, as you would expect, when Lionel Messi placed his free kick way away from the reach of Villar, who did his best and even got a touch, but the accuracy and strength of the shot would have beaten any other keeper too.
It was 3-1 in the end. Deserved, with plenty to be happy about, with clear signs that Argentina are on the right road if they are ever going to materialise their potential.