Argentina and Ecuador meet in the last eight of the U.S. Nations Cup. Although the comparison of strength is still unclear, Argentina, as the previous champion, has a high reputation for winning the championship. However, the leading scorer Mez has been injured and retired, which may become a major hidden problem for the offense. With Ecuador's tight defense, Argentina's road to victory doesn't seem smooth. With the high temperatures in the home field and Argentina scoring only two goals in three matches this season, it doesn't look like it will be easy to equal the median of 2.5 goals.
Argentina is star-studded on the offensive side of the ball, but often only wins narrowly. For example, the 2-0 scores against Canada and Peru, and the 1-0 win against Chile, all came in the second half. It seems that Argentina's offensive strategy needs to be adjusted.
Mez is in a slump, and the other striker candidate, Lilian Ivaris, is not playing well either, contributing only one goal, with the rest of the goals being scored by Nadalu Martinez. Argentina's goal scoring chances will undoubtedly be limited against a tightly defended opponent. However, I believe Argentina will show more strength in the first match of the knockout stage.
Ecuador showed its stability on the defensive end with 18 shots on goal in the final round of the group stage against Mexico, despite a 0-0 draw. The addition of Mosiska's defensive midfielder and Capper has strengthened the team's defense. In the past five games, the total number of goals scored is under 2, and the number of goals is even scarcer, so it seems that Ecuador is expected to continue the excellent performance in the defensive end.
