Copa America: Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez star as Argentina defeat Ecuador to enter semifinals

Argentina`s Lionel Messi (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Ecuador during their Conmebol 2021 Copa America football tournament quarter-final match at the Olympic Stadium in Goiania, Brazil. Pic/AFP

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.

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.

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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.

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