Twelve goals in five games with James Rodriguez and his six assists to the baton. The offensive arsenal of Colombia has swept this America Cupbut now The most difficult challenge remains: dismantling an Argentina that has only conceded one goal in the entire tournament.
Five goals against Panama, three against Costa Rica… The attack of the team led by Néstor Lorenzo has been fundamental in the qualification of the coffee growers for the final with several striking characteristics.
For example, how well distributed his goals are with eight players with at least one goal and four with two: Luis Díaz, Jhon Córdoba, Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Muñoz.
This balance between their gunners contrasts with the situation in Argentina, where Lautaro Martínez, with four goals, has scored half of his entire team in this tournament (eight).
That’s not the only difference between the two finalists in terms of attacking play.
According to data from BeSoccer, Argentina has had more shots than Colombia (68 to 53) and also more shots on goal (29 to 21).
But the aim is radically superior in the Colombian team with an effectiveness (shots on goal that end in a goal) of 57.14%, double that of the Albiceleste (27.59%).
James, an obvious candidate for best player of the tournament, is just one assist away from holding the record for most assists in a Copa América.
But his influence on Lorenzo’s offensive machinery goes further and is also seen in the key passes, defined as those passes in play that end in a shot, a dangerous play or a goal.
In that section, Colombia is the best team in the competition with 19 key passes, six of which were made by Luis Díaz and five by James (this does not include assists from set pieces, which in the case of the attacking midfielder are four, either after a foul or a corner).
James’ exceptional performance contrasts with that of the rival number 10, a Lionel Messi hampered by physical discomfort, practically absent in the quarterfinals against Ecuador and showing signs of improvement in the semi-final against Canada, where he also scored his only goal so far.
The data reflect this perspective on the genius of Rosario.
In the 2021 Copa América, Messi had 81.5 interventions per 90 minutes, meaning interventions as the sum of duels, passes, crosses, recoveries, dribbles and shots. In addition, he scored 0.52 goals per game.
However, in this 2024 edition, the Inter Miami star has 51.17 interventions per 90 minutes with 0.23 goals per game.
The reigning world and Copa America champions may not have been as impressive in attack, but in defence they can boast of having conceded just one goal in five games.
It was, however, a goal that put them between a rock and a hard place: Kevin Rodríguez’s 91st-minute goal for Ecuador that took them to the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
Lionel Scaloni’s men, who again turned to Emiliano Martínez as their hero against Ecuador, have not yet fallen behind on the scoreboard in this tournament, unlike Colombia, who have only conceded two goals in this Copa América but started off losing against Brazil in the group stage (final 1-1).
With information from EFE.
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