The Pumas 7 start off on the wrong foot in the Hong Kong Sevens: double defeat and injury for Moneta

The Pumas 7 They were unusually erratic in their first two meetings in Hong Kong Sevenfalling in front United States of America by 2-10 pm New Zeland for 22-0. In the first half of the match against the Americans, Marco Monetathe team’s tryman and iconic player, suffered an ankle injury after colliding with his teammate Rodrigo Isgro. The sprain forced him to leave the field and miss the match against All Blacks 7. The Argentines must continue their journey in the match without lightning.

From now on, if everything goes in the national team’s favor, they will still have a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals as one of the best third parties in the group stage. For this they must achieve a victory against Great Britain this Saturday at 1:11 in Argentina and await more results.

Since the 7s snapped their winning streak last month in Los Angeles seven, everything went downhill. After falling in the quarterfinals against Ireland After obtaining three titles and four consecutive finals, the team led by Santiago Gomez Cora He encountered obstacles on his path.

In these two consecutive defeats, the solidity and confidence that they have shown in past competitions was not seen, and the absence of Moneta was evident.

In the first match of the day against the United States, the Pumas 7 went to halftime with a score of 14-5, and the second half promised a comeback for the Albiceleste with a goal of Agostino Fraga, but it was not enough to break the defense barrier erected by the Americans who ended up winning.

A few hours later and without their star player, the 7s faced the All Blacks 7, who went in search of their revenge after falling twice in a row against the Albiceleste. They didn’t stop and showed presence from the first minute. With an erratic and disoriented performance from the Pumas 7, the score ended with 22 points for the Oceanic team and zero for the Argentine team.

“It’s not the start we expected“He admitted Matías Osadczuk in an interview with ESPN after the loss to New Zealand. “For us, losing isn’t a bad thing, quite the opposite. It’s where you have to correct mistakes the most and it’s where you learn the most“.

Ahead of the final group game against Great Britain this Saturday, Matías says he feels comfortable knowing that third place will still qualify for the next round.

For his part, Marcos Moneta will not be able to participate in the rest of the tournament and will return to Argentina to treat his injury. This raises concerns among fans, who doubt whether the tryman will be able to participate in the upcoming Singapore-based tournament. The severity of the injury is not yet known, but the public hopes that he will recover sooner Paris 2024 Olympic Games.