(L-R) Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Javier Pastore, Sergio Aguero, Nicolas Otamendi and Marcos Rojo jog during a training session in Concepcion, Chile.

DPA/Concepcion, Chile

Gearing up for tomorrow’s Copa America final against hosts Chile, Argentina are full of new-found confidence in their goal-scoring talents.
A team with Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria in its starting line-up, which leaves the likes of Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain on the bench, would hardly seem likely to have goal-scoring problems.
And yet Argentina came close to disaster in their quarter-final against Colombia, where they missed countless chances and only went through in the penalty shootout. They had a similar problem earlier in the Copa America, only managing to score four goals in as many matches.
Fortunately, Tuesday’s semi-final saw them break that barrier in their 6-1 thrashing of Paraguay - a major confidence boost just in time for the final.
“The goal opened up,” Argentina keeper Sergio Romero said in relief.
In their first group round game in Chile, they led Paraguay 2-0 and ended up drawing 2-2. They beat the rocky Uruguay 1-0, and even against the lowly Jamaica they wasted plenty of chances but won only 1-0. Against Colombia they needed the penalty shootout and a dose of good luck.
Their hit-rate changed in the semi-final, when they put six goals past Paraguay.
“We knew that the moment the ball went in, they would keep coming, and that was what happened,” said Messi. “Today they all went in at once.”
Ahead of the semi-final, coach Gerardo Martino had acknowledged a problem finding the net.
“But it’s more a product of chance than anything else,” Martino said.
He admitted that Argentina were missing too many potential goals, but he believed his men were generally playing well in all other respects.
The scoring statistics for Messi at Barcelona, Aguero at Manchester United, Tevez at Juventus and Higuain at Napoli are there for all to see, and Martino stressed it was only a matter of time before they could deliver them with the national team too.
“We have found goals easily. We have been very effective, which is something we had been missing in earlier games,” said defender Pablo Zabaleta. “We were confident, we know what our strikers are capable of, they are among the best in the world.”
Argentina’s new-found effectiveness is a looming threat for Chile, who have played well during the tournament but have goal-scoring problems of their own as well as many doubts in defence.
“The [Argentinian] national team will arrive in Santiago with the authority and the football to make sure that its position as the favourites for the title stands, even on enemy territory,” the Argentinian daily La Nacion wrote Wednesday.
“Chile are scared,” Argentinian fans sing of the hosts.
Anyone would probably be scared if their rivals had scored six goals in their semi-final, particularly if that toll did not even include a contribution from their star, Messi.
The Argentina captain was very active against Paraguay and gave assists for half of his team’s goals, but he remains goalless in the knock-out stages of major tournaments with the national team.
“Let’s hope he unleashes his strength in the final like the team did today,” said Romero.