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Copa America 2021: Lionel Messi stars as Argentina thrash Ecuador to enter semis
Messi scored a goal and assisted the other two as Argentina defeated Ecuador 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Copa America and the side will now lock horns against Colombia in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Rodrigo De Daul, Lautaro Martinez, and Lionel Messi got among the goal-scoring charts as Argentina progressed to the semifinals of the ongoing Copa America here at the Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico on Sunday.
Messi scored a goal and assisted the other two as Argentina defeated Ecuador 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Copa America and the side will now lock horns against Colombia in the semifinals on Wednesday.
The first goal of the match came in the 40th minute as De Paul netted the ball into the goalpost, giving Argentina a 1-0 lead.
The next two goals came in the second half. First, Martinez scored in the 84th minute, and in the dying minutes of the game, Messi registered a goal to hand Argentina a 3-0 win.
In the entire match, Argentina had eight shots on target while Ecuador just had two.
On Saturday, Colombia defeated Uruguay 4-2 on penalties to qualify for the semifinals.
The normal 90-minute action between both these sides finished at 0-0 and as a result, the match had to go down to penalties to decide the winner.