So, Argentina will play Venezuela or Canada in the semi-finals after a scruffy, unconvincing win over Ecuador. Emi Martinez was their hero with two penalty saves in the shootout, which means Lionel Messi’s missed Panenka will become a footnote rather than a headline.
Otamendi scores and Argentina go through!
Full time: Argentina 1-1 Ecuador (4-2 pens) A very good penalty, dragged into the bottom left corner. Argentina have won on penalties again!
Jordy Caicedo scores!
Argentina 3-2 Ecuador Argentina will have to serve it out. Caicedo’s penalty wasn’t the best but Martinez dived past it.
Montiel scores!
Argentina 3-1 Ecuador The World Cup winner sends Dominguez the wrong way to move Argentina within one kick, or more likely one save, of going through.
Yeboah scores!
Argentina 2-1 Ecuador Good penalty, whipped to his right. Martinez went the wrong way for once.
Mac Allister scores!
Argentina 2-0 Ecuador Very good penalty, curled into the bottom-right corner. Ecuador are on the brink.
Martinez saves from Minda!
Argentina 1-0 Ecuador This is ridiculous. Martinez guesses right again and stretches to claw away Minda’s penalty. He’s broken Ecuador’s will.
Alvarez scores!
Argentina 1-0 Ecuador A brilliant penalty, curled top right. Dominguez went the right way but had no chance.
MARTINEZ SAVES FROM MENA!
Argentina 0-0 Ecuador He’s done it again. Mena’s penalty was well struck but at a decent height for Martinez, who dived to his left, pushed it away and set off in celebration. He is remarkable.
MESSI MISSES! Argentina 0-0 Ecuador
He tried a Panenka and hit the top of the crossbar! There aren’t enough exclamation marks in the world!
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“Perhaps the Argentine defender would have been better playing defence while Ecuador attacked down his side right before the equaliser instead of writhing around on the ground acting like he was injured,” writes Russell Eberts. “The football gods are always watching.”
Mother Football’s gonna get ya.
“Messi’s teams (club and country) have won a ridiculous number of shootouts in a row,” says Robert Speed. “It can’t last, can it?”
Emi Martinez doesn’t believe in the law of averages.
Full time: Argentina 1-1 Ecuador
Argentina are about to be eacquainted with an old friend: the penalty competition. The substitute Kevin Rodriguez’s superb injury-time header gave Ecuador a fully deserved draw. There’s no extra-time until the final so this goes straight to penalties.
90+7 min: Chance for Ecuador! Jordy Caicedo heads wide from six yards after fine play from Minta on the left. That was a terrific chance to put the holders out!
90+6 min Almost another chance for Ecuador! Mena breaks into the area before running out of room.
Meanwhile, Gonzalo Montiel has replaced Molina with penalties in mind.
90+5 min “No, there’s no problem with VAR in football,” says Robert Speed. “It all works great!”
The goal stands! It must have been a check for offside, though it didn’t look even close on the replay.
I have no idea what they’re checking. It’s still going on though. This is weird.
There’s a VAR check, goodness knows what for though.
Oh. My. Goodness. Ecuador took a quick free-kick on the right, then Yeboah curled a fine cross into the middle. Rodriguez got across Otamendi at the near post, 12 yards out, and flicked a fantastic header that beat Martinez and bounced into the far corner.
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GOAL! Argentina 1-1 Ecuador (Rodriguez 90+2)
Ecuador have equalised and this quarter-final is going to penalties!
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90+1 min There will be five minutes of added time.
90 min Jordy Caicedo shoots indulgently wide from a very tight angle on the left side of the area. He had to cross that, surely.
88 min It feels like neither team has put five passes together in the last 15 or 20 minutes. I guess that constitutes good game management from Argentina, but it has been a strange spectacle.
87 min: Ecuador substitution Jordy Caicedo comes on for Alan Franco. It’s now or never for Ecuador.
86 min “I’m not sure why exactly,” begins Peter Oh, “but when Cristian Romero takes a full-throttle shot right in the family jewels and writhes on the ground in agony, I don’t feel as much sympathy for him as I do for other players.”
85 min It’s been a stop-start second half, which suits Argentina just fine. Result > performance.
83 min Romero stayed down after being hit by that shot from Mena. At first I thought he was wasting time, but the free-kick hit him in a delicate place.
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82 min Mena’s free-kick hits the wall.
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81 min Yeboah makes an instant impact, turning Otamendi smartly and charging past Tagliafico, who brings him down and is booked. Ecuador have a free-kick 25 yards from goal…
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80 min: Ecuador substitutions John Yeboah and Angel Mena replace Carlos Gruezo and Enner Valencia. All these substitutions aren’t helping Ecuador gain any momentum.
78 min: Argentina substitutions Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolas Otamendi replace Enzo Fernandez and Lisandro Martinez.
77 min Gonzalez is booked for a foul on Preciado.
76 min: Ecuador substitutions Alan Minda and Kevin Rodriguez replace Kendry Paez and Jeremy Sarmiento. I’m surprised Sarmiento has come off; he’s been Ecuador’s biggest threat.
75 min Sarmiento, who has had a fine game, slithers past three players on the left. When the move breaks down, Caicedo is booked for a foul on De Paul. Just before that, Preciado went down holding his face after being caught by a flailing elbow from Gonzalez.
Caicedo will miss the semi-final if Ecuador get there.
73 min Messi’s free-kick leads to a mini-scramble in the Ecuador area, with a couple of shots blocked.
Ecuador break and Preciado’s deep cross is headed back across goal to Valencia, who is about to shoot from close range when an Argentina defender pokes the ball away. Ecuador are still in this.
71 min Argentina are doing just enough, but it hasn’t been a convincing performance at all. I doubt they’ll care.
69 min Hincapie rolls around in pain after being caught by Molina. I think Molina won the ball cleanly and then collided with Hincapie in his follow through.
68 min De Paul’s angled cross is missed by a defender and reaches Messi, who chests the ball down and swishes a right-foot shot that is too close to Dominguez.
65 min: Argentina substitution Julian Alvarez replaces Lautaro Martinez, who couldn’t add to his four goals. He didn’t get the greatest service.
64 min “That foul on Caicedo,” says Joe Pearson. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Conmebol.”
It looked like something from English football in the 1980s.
63 min For a second it seemed the penalty would be retaken because Martinez was off his line. Replays showed he was fine, so Argentina are officially out of jail.
Valencia hits the post!
62 min Oh dear lord. He swaggered up nonchalantly, sent Martinez the wrong way – and then rolled the ball slowly against the left-hand post. Hincapie rattled the rebound into the side netting from a tight angle.
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61 min Emi Martinez is acting up as usual, and why not. De Paul is still pleading his case but there’s no suggestion the decision will be overturned.
It was another left-wing corner, headed on at the near post, and it hit the hand of De Paul. Hmm, that looks a bit harsh: his arms looked pretty close to his body and he was only a couple of yards away from the player who flicked it on.
60 min: Penalty to Ecuador! This time the handball has been given!
56 min Romero, flustered by the presence of Valencia, concedes a needless corner. It’s flicked on and hits the arm of Fernandez, which leads to a VAR check for a possible penalty. Nothing to see, Fernandez’s arm was close enough to his body to satisfy the VAR folk. It wasn’t right by his side though.
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55 min A hopeful shot on the turn from Lautaro Martinez dribbles wide.
54 min Caicedo is back on his feet. He’s limping but looks like he’s okay.
53 min Caicedo is still down. That was a nasty blow, and there are one or two VAR officials who would recommend a red card for Romero. Enner Valencia was making a VAR signal to the referee.
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51 min Romero clears the ball and then studs Caicedo in the side of the leg in his follow through. With most players you’d assume it was an accident…
50 min A very slow start to the second half. Ecuador are having quite a lot of the ball, though it’s all in harmless areas for now.
48 min Messi has been relatively quiet, possibly because of the leg injury he has been managing, though he still played a gorgeous pass to Enzo Fernandez that ultimately led to the goal.
47 min “Since it is Independence Day here, and amateurs have way too much access to ordinance, the entire first half has been punctuated with bangs and flashes,” says Joe Pearson. “I mean the match has been OK, but c’mon.”
46 min Ecuador get the second half under way. No changes on either side.
Half-time reading
Half time: Argentina 1-0 Ecuador
The scoreline is no surprise, but it doesn’t tell the full story of an intriguing first half. Ecuador were the better team for much of it, with Emi Martinez making a fine save from Jeremy Sarmiento early on. Another Martinez, Manchester United’s Lisandro, headed Argentina in front from a well-worked corner in the 35th minute.
Bautismo de gol para Licha 👏 pic.twitter.com/xNmBFXx7hr
— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ (@CopaAmerica) July 5, 2024
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45 min “Scaloni needs to throw Lucas Martínez on so that Argentina can complete their hat-trick of goals by L’s Martínez,” says Kári Tulinius.
44 min Argentina have been much better since the goal, passing the ball with greater speed and purpose. De Paul is gratuitously shoved over from behind by Valencia, who has been booked and needs to be careful. He’s already been sent off once in this tournament.
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41 min: Chance for Argentina! De Paul’s pass deflects towards Fernandez, who drags a left-foot cross shot well wide. That was Argentina’s best chance in open play.
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39 min The goal is a bit harsh on Ecuador, who had been the better team until that point. But now they have to fight the inevitable fatalism that comes when you play well and go behind to a superpower.
37 min Five of Argentina’s six goals at this year’s Copa have been scored by an L Martinez: four for Lautaro and now one for Lisandro.
GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Ecuador (Lisandro Martinez 36)
Lisandro Martinez scores his first goal for Argentina! Messi’s clipped corner from the right was headed on deftly at the near post by Mac Allister, and Martinez arrived at the far post to nod in from close range. Dominguez pushed the ball away but he was well behind the line when he did so.
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34 min Messi spins a terrific first-time pass into the path of Fernandez, galloping beyond the defence. He evades Preciado on the edge of the area and whacks a shot that deflects behind off Pacho.
31 min Alexander Dominguez, the Ecuador keeper, has had the square root of bugger all to do. I suppose this is in keeping with Argentina’s tournament; all their goals have been scored in the second half.
30 min Valencia takes his frustrations out on Mac Allister and is booked.
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29 min Valencia is down again, this time holding his back. Romero eased a stiff arm into him as they competed for a high ball. It doesn’t look too bad.
27 min: Just wide from Fernandez! Better from Argentina. Messi finds the overlapping Molina, whose chipped cross is headed just wide by Fernandez, 15 yards out. It was a pretty good effort as he had to generate the power himself.
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25 min The fact there is no safety net of extra-time will make Argentina nervous if this is still goalless at half-time. They’re not playing well at all.
22 min Messi’s cross reaches Gonzalez beyond the far post. He tries to find Lautaro Martinez with an early ball that is crucially cut out by Preciado.
Moments later, Valencia goes down after an unpleasant tackle from behind by Romero. He might have bene booked for that.
21 min The addition of Gruezo in midfield has worked well for Ecuador, who are giving Argentina very little space in the middle of the pitch.
19 min Attempts at goal so far: Argentina 0-4 Ecuador.
16 min Ecuador are causing Argentina all sorts of problems. Valencia makes a good run in behind and reverses a cross that is volleyed over from eight yards by Preciado. It came an awkward height but it was still a chance.
15 min: Excellent save by Martinez! Lovely football from Ecuador. Caicedo shows great feet on the left to beat Molina (I think) and screw a low cross into Sarmiento. He swerves beautifully past Romero and stabs a close-range shot that is saved with his legs by Martinez. The follow-up is blasted just over the bar from the edge of the area by Paez.
14 min It hasn’t been a great start from Argentina – sloppy at times, frantic at others. Ecuador will be much happier with the first 15 minutes. Okay the first 14.
11 min Hincapie wins the first corner for Ecuador, who are starting to look good in transition. It’s taken short to Caicedo, whose cross is headed away.
10 min A reminder that there’s no extra time tonight. If Ecuador can keep this goalless for 90 minutes, and that’s the plan, there will be a penalty competition.
6 min: Chance for Ecuador! Out of nothing, the first opportunity comes for Ecuador. Caicedo makes an excellently timed run beyond the Argentina defence, onto a header from Valencia. By the time he reaches the penalty area he is under pressure from behind and shoots tamely at Martinez.
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4 min “I hope you got to see Messi live, Rob,” says Ruth Purdue. “I didn’t realise how fast he was dribbling till I saw him live. It’s like watch tennis iive, you don’t realise how hard they hit it till you’re in the stadium. Those videos of him made a lot more sense.”
Cricket is great for that; you barely see the ball when somebody like Mark Wood wangs it down.
3 min Fernandez stabs a promising pass towards Lautaro Martinez, forcing Preciado to come across and sweep up on the edge of the area. Argentina have had all of the ball in the first few minutes.
3 min There hasn’t been a goal at either end in the first half of Argentina’s games, so don’t be surprised if this takes a little while to get going.
2 min “In the local pickup soccer group I play in, players bring a white shirt and a dark shirt to facilitate the forming of teams,” writes Peter Oh. “Striped shirts are discouraged, but I’ve noticed that Argentina fans have a creative solution. Show up in the albiceleste shirt for the warm-up, and then turn it inside out to line up for the white team at kickoff.
“Inside Out Argentina. Still looks great (you can see a hint of the famous sky blue), and evokes images of Pixar. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. In other words, Football!!!
“Btw, what do you call ‘pickup soccer’ over there?”
Erm, pickup football?
1 min Peep peep! Argentina kick off from right to left as we watch. Ecuador are in their very very very very very very very dark blue change strip.
It’s time for the action. The exit polls are all predicting a big Argentina win; we’ll soon find out.
The quarter-final line-up
Since you asked, I’m all in on Venezuela.
The Copa América 2024 Quarterfinal bracket 🔥🔥
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2024
Which team has the easiest path to the final? pic.twitter.com/58DYwnbXPL
“Jesus, Rob!” says Joe Pearson. “Are you an insomniac? I always expect the late night stuff to be Beau Dure, since he’s on this side of the ocean. How on earth did you draw this straw?”
It’s a mildly important night over here, so I was going to be up anyway.
Team news
Argentina make eight changes, restoring all the first-choice players who were rested for the final group game against Peru. The in-form Lautaro Martinez starts up front with Lionel Messi.
Ecuador make one change from their goalless draw with Mexico: the defensive midfielder Carlos Gruezo replaces the forward Kevin Rodriguez.
Argentina (4-4-2) E Martinez; Molina, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Gonzalez; Messi, Lautaro Martinez.
Subs: Armani, Rulli, Otamendi, Pezzella, Acuna, Lucas Martinez, Montiel, Di Maria, Paredes, Rodriguez, Lo Celso, Palacios, Carboni, Alvarez, Garnacho.
Ecuador (4-3-2-1) Dominguez; Preciado, Torres, Pacho, Hincapie; Franco, Gruezo Caicedo; Paez, Sarmiento; Valencia.
Subs: Galindez, Ramirez, Porozo, Hurtado, Loor, Ordonez, Micolta, Mena, Corozo, Cifuentes, Yeboah, Ortiz, Minda, Jordy Caicedo, Rodriguez.
📝🇦🇷 Our starting XI to face Ecuador 🇪🇨 in the quarterfinals!#ArgentinaNT pic.twitter.com/fR6t4ds2VB
— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) July 5, 2024
📋 𝗡𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗦 𝗫𝗜
— La Tri 🇪🇨 (@LaTri) July 4, 2024
Así saltamos a la cancha esta noche en el NRG Stadium para enfrentar a 🇦🇷 en la 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗟 @CopaAmerica.
• #LaTriArgentina • pic.twitter.com/qdXfQ78Bdw
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Hello, good evening and welcome to live coverage of the first quarter-final at the Copa América 2024: the holders, favourites and world champions Argentina v Ecuador. It feels like a foregone conclusion – but then so did all the thousands of shock results that are dotted throughout football history, from Belo Horizonte 1950 to Manizales 2001. That’s why we keep coming back.
Rob will be here shortly. In the meantime, here are our power rankings from the tournament so far:
1) Argentina
Winners of all three group stage games, Argentina cruised to the top of Group A over Canada, Chile, and Peru.
They trotted to wins with Lionel Messi in the lineup. But, crucially, they looked dominant without him in their final group match, which he missed through injury. Messi has returned to full training and seems likely to play in the quarters. If not, they could do a whole lot worse than sliding Alejandro Garnacho into the team.
In Messi’s absence, Lautaro Martínez has caught fire. After starting the tournament on the subs bench, Martínez has pushed his way into the starting lineup, scoring four times in three games – including two from the bench.
Moving back a line, Argentina’s midfield is ready to beat you – and they want to shove it in your face. “What I do is pick an enemy,” midfield general Rodrigo De Paul told Telemundo. “Well, let’s say a rival because that doesn’t sound so bad. I look to engage in a dispute that will keep me alert. It’s not just that I want to win. I want to beat you. I make it personal.”
Best of luck to Argentina’s opponents in the knockouts. They’ll need it.
6) Ecuador
Ecuador cut it really, really close. If not for a (correctly) reversed penalty call in their final group stage match against Mexico, there was a real chance they were going to be watching the rest of this tournament from home. But the call was reversed, they picked up a much-needed point, and now they’re in the quarter-finals.
They’ll regret their early collapse against Venezuela when it comes time to play Argentina in the next round instead of the runner-up from Group A. It’s probably one tournament cycle too early for teenage star Kendry Páez to give them a real chance against Argentina, but never say never.
You can read the rest of the rankings here:
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