Defending champions, Argentina beat Ecuador 4-2 on penalties to move into the semifinals of the Copa América on Thursday after goalkeeper Emi Martinez made two saves in the shootout following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s midfielder Moises Caicedo had put in a number of extremely strong performances for his country in the tournament, as they scaled through the group stages and unlucky Clashed out in the quarter finals.
His impressive showings were praised by Argentine starman, Lionel Messi…
“They have a great team with great players and today, especially in the second half, they did well.
There are always battles on the field, but afterwards everything was fine.
“It makes me sad that a great player ended up sad (Moisés Caicedo) showing that he gave everything on the field…” Messi Added
The match went to penalties after Lisandro Martínez’s opener for Argentina was canceled out by Kevin Rodríguez in stoppage time. There is no extra time in Copa América knockout games apart from the final.
In the shootout, Lionel Messi clipped the crossbar with Argentina’s first effort, but Martinez saved from Ángel Mena and Alan Minda as the defending champions moved into a semifinal matchup against either Venezuela or Canada.
