Lionel Messi’s Argentina forth their way into the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa America through a very dramatic penalty shootout against Ecuador on 4th June, 2024.
The World Champions didn’t have an easy game against this strong Ecuador side who were very tough and aggressive. The first half was very intense but Argentina managed to take the lead through Lisandro Martinez’s header from a corner kick.
Ecuador started the second half strongly and appeared to have tied the score when Rodrigo de Paul handled in the area, but Argentina had the advantage at the half. Captain Enner Valencia took a confident step forward, but his penalty kick bounced off the post.
Even though it seemed like Ecuador wouldn’t have the desired outcome, they managed to surprise Argentina with a dramatic late equalizer, with Kevin Rodriguez’s strike sneaking in at the back post.
The match ended in penalties, and even though Lionel Messi struck the crossbar, Emiliano Martinez’s heroics in goalkeeping gave Argentina the upper hand in the penalty shootout. With his conversion of the fifth penalty, Nicolas Otamendi advanced Argentina to the Copa America semifinals.
Argentina vs Ecuador
