Ecuador – Fortunebets

Lionel Messi scored a free kick and served up two assists as Argentina beat Ecuador 3-0 on Saturday to set themselves up for a Copa America semifinal against Colombia.

Messi missed a golden chance in the first half but set up Rodrigo De Paul five minutes before half-time and then did the same for Lautaro Martinez five minutes from the end to give Argentina a deserved victory.

The Barcelona player then got his second free kick off the tournament in stoppage time to round out a scoreline that was more convincing than the performance.

It was his 76th goal for Argentina, taking him to within one of Pele’s South American record.

“I’ve always said that individual prizes are secondary, we’re here for something else,” Messi said. “We have an objective and we’re focused on that.”

“It was a hard match, we know how difficult an opponent they can be. The important thing is we’ve taken another step forward.”

Argentina were unbeaten in 17 games coming into the game and they should have put the result beyond doubt earlier than they did.

Martinez and German Pezzella both came close in the opening 20 minutes and Hernan Galindez made one superb double save from Nicolas Gonzalez with the score at 1-0.

More surprisingly, Messi missed the best chance of the game when he was through on the keeper but saw his shot come back off the post.

However, the diminutive striker made up for it five minutes before half-time when, with the Ecuadoran goalkeeper stranded after making a tackle outside the box, he fed De Paul, who stroked the ball into the net for his first international goal in 25 appearances.

Messi then set up Martinez to finish clinically five minutes from the end, before stepping up himself to curl home a free kick in stoppage time, after Piero Hincapie hauled down Angel Di Maria and was shown a red card.

Underdogs Ecuador came into the match without a win in their last six games but they had chances to score against a team seeking their first Copa America triumph since 1993.

Enner Valencia in particular will be angry at himself for sending two glancing headers wide from close in during the first 45 minutes.

The result means Argentina will face Colombia, who overcame Uruguay on penalties earlier in the day, in the second Copa America semifinal on Tuesday.

Brazil play Peru in the first semifinal 24 hours before.

Colombia opened up their Copa America participation on Sunday with a narrow 1-0 victory over Ecuador in Group A play thanks to what may end up being the goal of the tournament. Los Cafeteros were far from convincing and were outshot by Gustavo Alfaro’s side, but a moment of magic in the first half was enough to secure the three points, though they needed VAR in the end.

A perfectly executed set piece, started and finished by Boca Juniors midfielder Edwin Cardona, gave Reinaldo Reuda’s team all they needed on the night. Here is the set piece, and watch how Cardona combines with his teammates with the ball ultimately falling to him in the heart of the box:

It was initially called offside, but VAR confirmed to ref Nestor Pitana that the goal was valid. It was one that had clearly been practiced countless times on the training ground. Executing it in a match is certainly more challenging, but Colombia made it look easy with the in-sync squad pulling off quite the golazo.

That victory puts Colombia in second place in Group A for the time being and also puts them well on their way to advancing to the quarterfinals. As for Ecuador, they should be fine assuming they can get three points on Sunday when they take on struggling Venezuela.