Goals from Lautaro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso helped the Albiceleste progress to the final four, despite not controlling the game as they would have liked. Argentina, under new manager Lionel Scaloni have been lacklustre at best and should consider themselves lucky to have made it thus far.
In case you didn’t know…
Despite repeated trophy success with his club side Barcelona, Argentine talisman Lionel Messi has failed to replicate the same at international level, losing three major finals in succession - the 2014 FIFA World Cup final to Germany and the 2015 Copa America and 2016 Copa America Centenario finals, both times to Chile.
Argentina had a terrible start to this Copa America, losing their first game 2-0 against Colombia. The Albiceleste showed no major improvement in the second game, with Paraguay restricting them to a 1-1 scoreline. An underwhelming 2-0 victory against minnows Qatar enabled them to qualify for the quarter-finals as the second placed team in Group B.
The heart of the matter
Messi has had an underwhelming tournament by his usual high standards, having scored only once and that too via a penalty. The Barcelona and Argentina captain is also yet to record an assist in the tournament after four games.
As reported by Fox Sports, speaking on the upcoming clash against Brazil, Messi said:
What’s next?
Brazil will face Argentina in the first semi-final of the Copa America on Wednesday, 6:00 AM IST. Chile will face the winners of today’s quarterfinal between Uruguay and Peru, in the second semi-final match.
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