Lionel Messi saved by his own goalkeeper. What scenes
Argentina’s national team made it to the semi-finals of the Copa America with great difficulty. Lionel Messi made a mistake in the penalty shootout.
The Argentine national team entered the Copa America as the defending champion and the main favorite to win. We are talking about the current world champions. In the quarterfinals, the Ecuadorians were waiting for the Albicelestes and from the very beginning they put up a fight against their favored rivals. Everything had to be decided by penalties (there is no extra time in the Copa America after regular time). After the first half, Argentina were leading 1-0 after a goal by Lisandro Martinez, but Kevin Rodriguez responded in the second half.
Lionel Messi missed a penalty
In recent days, there has been a lot of talk about Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty in Portugal’s match against Slovenia at Euro 2024. It happened in extra time. Later, in the penalty shootout, the 39-year-old made amends.
In the case of the Argentina-Ecuador clash, the penalty shootout was opened by Lionel Messi. The captain of the world champions cut the ball a’la Panenka. However, the cut was too strong, because the ball hit the crossbar, and there was a lot of disappointment in the stands. However, then the Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez stepped into action.
First he stopped Angel Mena. Then Julian Alvarez converted his first penalty. Later Martinez made another save, this time stopping Alan Minda. The third series started with a goal by Alexis Mac Allister. Then John Yeboah, known for his performances in the Polish league, confidently struck. Argentina were leading 2:1 at the time. In the next attempts the players were also right, the “Albicelestes” approached the semi-finals with a shot by Gonzalo Montiel. Jordy Caicedo kept the hopes of the Ecuadorians alive. In the fifth series Nicolas Otamendi scored the winning goal.
Argentina awaits its semi-final opponent
In the semi-finals of the Copa America, Argentina will play the winner of the Venezuela-Canada match. It is therefore possible that a repeat of the group stage match, where Canada was the rival of the world champions, cannot be ruled out. Lionel Messi and company won 2-0.
