Alejandro Garnacho did his chances of earning a place in Argentina’s Copa America squad no harm at all with another strong display, this time against Costa Rica.
For the United man, this was his first time representing his country from the beginning, and he and his family should be quite proud of this.
The United prospect impressed against El Salvador while playing off the bench, but this time he had the opportunity to showcase his many skills right away, and he did not let us down.
He played 71 minutes, as his side came from 0-1 down, to win 3-1.
The World Champions once again dominated the ball as they enjoyed 75% of possession and took 23 shots to Costa Rica’s seven.
Just like the player has transformed himself from an impact bench player to a bona fide starter for his club, he will be hoping his performances this international break will begin to plant the seed in Lionel Scaloni’s mind.
The 19 year old started on his favourite left wing and was given a credible 7.3 for his performance from Sofascore.
The youngster was a threat on Keylor Navas’ goal as he forced two saves from the experienced keeper.
As you would expect, he used his potent combination of electric speed and close to control to dribble at his opponents and completed two of his four dribble attempts successfully.
Garnacho also put in a controlled performance on the ball, as he had 57 touches and managed to complete 33 out of his 38 passes.
This led to an impressive passing accuracy of 87% and crucially he was able to contribute two key passes during the match.
His passing accuracy was also highlighted by the completion of his three long balls.
Another impressive feature that the 2022 Youth Cup winner has added to his game this season, is his defensive work rate.
He won six out of his 12 ground duels against a team that had very little of the ball to begin with.
Garnacho will be pleased with his two additional South American caps and will surely believe he has shown enough to be considered for the summer Copa America squad.
With seven goals this season, the winger is attempting to score ten goals or more for the first time in his career. He won’t be able to do this until Manchester United has a fantastic season.
