Ecuador scored a late goal and Lionel Messi missed a penalty, but Argentina overcame its biggest crisis yet in the Copa America 2024 with a 4-2 shootout victory over their South American rivals on Thursday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.
After two halves were tied at 1-1, the game went straight into a penalty shootout, where Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez proved the difference when it mattered most, stopping Ecuador’s first two penalties before Julián Alvarez and Alexis Mac Allister gave Ecuador an early lead.
Gonzalo Montiel scored a goal and Nicolas Otamendi sealed the victory for Argentina, who advanced to the semi-finals next week at MetLife Stadium.
But it seemed almost surreal that the quarter-final match went to a penalty shootout, despite Argentina dominating most of the match.
In fact, Argentina was performing relatively well in this year’s Copa America, having not conceded a goal for more than 360 minutes until late on Thursday night.
However, in added time, Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball into the penalty area, beating Martinez’s goal to tie the game at 1-1 and give Ecuador hope of beating Argentina and moving one step closer to winning their first Copa America title.
Early in the game, Ecuador came close to tying the score with a penalty kick from Enel Valencia in the 62nd minute, but the shot hit the post and did not go into the goal.
After a lengthy review, the goal was allowed and moments later, Ecuador’s Jordi Caicedo almost scored the winner when a header went wide of the net and looked to have been La Tricolor’s golden goal.
The shootout took a bizarre turn as Argentina gave one of the best soccer players in the world the first shot.
Messi apparently fooled Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez, but his shot hit the crossbar and went over the top of the net, stunning the NRG Stadium crowd.
But the global soccer star was saved by some great play from Martinez and the help of his fellow forwards to progress through the tournament.
There were concerns that Messi might not be able to play in the match, but he was included in Argentina’s starting lineup and helped score the game’s opening goal in the 35th minute.
Messi’s corner kick was flicked by Mac Allister to Lisandro Martinez, who scored the goal.
