Leandro Paredes’ insult against Keylor Navas that the TV did not show in Argentina’s victory over Costa Rica

Paredes’ insult to Keylor Navas

La Scaloneta had a new show of character and closed its tour of the United States with a 3-1 victory against Costa Rica, in a friendly match played in Los Angeles in preparation for the great goal of the year: the Copa América. Despite an unexpected start due to Manfred Ugalde’s premature goal for the team led by Gustavo Alfaro, the Albiceleste knew how to recover to reverse history in the complement.

It was in the second half where Argentina showed a better collective level and managed to turn the score around. Ángel Di María, with a magnificent free kick, Alexis Mac Allister and Lautaro Martínez were the authors of the goals that secured the victory for the South American team.

One of the great figures of the day was Keylor Navas, who despite the defeat had an outstanding night. The legendary goalkeeper with a past at Real Madrid shone with notable interventions that kept his team in the fight for much of the match. And in one of his countless saves, the Tico flew to avoid a goal from Enzo Fernández; a maneuver that triggered an unusual reaction from Leandro Paredes. The midfielder from Boca, who shared the Paris Saint-Germain locker room with the goalkeeper, spontaneously expressed his surprise with a cry of helplessness directed at Rodrigo De Paul and Nico González: “The son of a bitch is a cat!” .

The relationship between the Roma figure and Keylor Navas dates back to their days at the club in the capital of France, where they forged a friendship that transcended beyond the field. The anecdote highlights the camaraderie and mutual respect between the protagonists, despite being on opposite sides of the field. And probably, in the next continental competition, which will also be held in the northern country, they will meet again.

Thanks to Argentina’s victory over Costa Rica, the team led by Lionel Scaloni reached a new record and it has to do with the maximum amount of time in first place in the FIFA Ranking. The world champion team surpassed its own mark of 11 months between 2016 and 2017, so the roster will only have news again in June when the Copa América and the Euro Cup are played.

The Albiceleste’s best streak in this item was the one achieved between April 2016 and March 2017. It was in April of last year when Argentina resumed its leading position after the FIFA date in March and after the recent consecration in the Qatar World Cup 2022. His successes on the June tour of Asia plus the leadership in the South American Qualifiers allowed him to stay at the top.

After that jump to first place, Scaloneta debuted its first place on the FIFA date of June 2023, when it beat Australia and Indonesia 2-0. In September the South American Qualifiers started and beat Ecuador (1-0), Bolivia (3-0), Paraguay (1-0), Peru (2-0) and Brazil (1-0), although they would later suffer the fall 2 -0 at home against Uruguay.

The setback against Celeste in La Bombonera also put an end to the team’s 14-game unbeaten streak since the second game in the last World Cup and also compromised the No. 1 ranking. That statistic marked six wins and one loss in the 2023 overall at the top of the national team roster. Although the greatest number of matches without defeat in the Scaloni era was between 2019 and November 22, 2022, when they left behind 36 matches without losing due to the hard fall against Saudi Arabia in their debut in the last World Cup.

In the FIFA Ranking, updated as of February 15, Argentina currently leads with 1855.20 points. This is followed by France (1845.44), England (1800.05), Belgium (1798.46), Brazil (1784.09), Netherlands (1745.48), Portugal (1745.06), Spain (1732.64), Italy (1718.82) and Croatia (1717.57). Under this scenario, the only one that could have surpassed Scaloni’s team in April was France, which lost against Germany and beat Chile.