Copa America: Messi out, but Argentina still reach semi-finals

Argentina worked hard and Lionel Messi missed his chance in the penalty shootout, but the result was what the Argentines had hoped for: they secured their place in the Copa America semi-finals on Thursday night, thanks to a 1-1 (4-2) penalty shootout win over Ecuador.

After a small miracle from Ecuador in stoppage time to prolong the suspense, Messi wasted his chance to give his team confidence when his first shot hit the crossbar.

But the brilliance of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and the goals of Messi's teammates saved Argentina, who will be able to target the podium for the fifth consecutive time in the Copa America. Nicolas Otamendi ended the match.

Lisandro Martinez scored Argentina's only goal in regulation time. Ecuadorian Kevin Rodriguez's goal was the first Argentina had allowed in the tournament.

With his 185th international appearance, Lionel Messi is now only fourth in football history for the most caps for his country. Messi, the all-time Argentina captain, beats Egypt's Ahmed Hassan, who is fourth, having represented his country 184 times.

Messi's career began on August 17, 2005, almost 19 years ago, in his first match with Argentina.

Cristiano Ronaldo leads the history with 211 matches for Portugal, ahead of Bader Al-Mutawa who played 196 matches for Kuwait and Soh Chin Ann with Malaysia with 195 matches.

Ecuador quickly challenged their Argentine opponents with two good scoring chances, but goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez held firm on both occasions.

Argentina struck the first blow to Ecuador in the 35th minute from a corner kick. Messi's corner kick was headed brilliantly by Alexis Mac Allister towards the post, and Martinez headed the ball into the net to open the scoring.

Ecuador had a golden chance to come back to life in the 60th minute, when a shot from a corner kick hit Rodrigo De Paul's arm inside the penalty area.

Moises Caicedo was the man assigned to take the penalty kick, but although his shot beat goalkeeper Martinez, the ball hit the post and Ecuador were unable to equalise.

While Argentina appeared to be dangerously close to the semi-finals, Ecuador was still on course. joker In his sleeve. John Yeboah crossed and Kevin Rodriguez headed it home to equalise in the first minute of stoppage time.

The World Cup champions still have the final say after that and will face the winner of the Canada-Venezuela matchup. That match will be shown on Friday at 9pm on RDS and RDS.ca.