Lionel Messi equaled Javier Mascherano’s record of 147 caps for Argentina on Monday night when he played in his team’s 1-0 win over Paraguay and booked his place in the Copa America finals.
Papu Gomez’s ten minute strike was enough to earn the three points for Lionel Scaloni’s side as they maintained their unbeaten record.
Messi had a key role to play in building the game’s only goal (obviously), as he spun away from a midfield challenge before feeding Angel Di Maria. The Paris Saint-Germain forward then passed the ball to Gomez who produced a clever dink over Antony Silva to give his side the lead.
Elsewhere in Group A, Chile also booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 1-1 draw against Uruguay.
Eduardo Vargas handed Chile the lead thanks in no small part to Blackburn midfielder Ben Brereton, who continued to shine at the tournament as he outfoxed Diego Godin to lay the ball to Vargas before the column hit home.
Uruguay dominated the rest of the match and they were eventually rewarded with an equalizer when Inter Arturo Vidal cut the ball in the back of his own net under pressure from Luis Suarez.
# CopaAmérica?
Messi. Di María. Papu Gómez. GOLAZO by @Argentina!
?? Argentina? Paraguay ?? # VibraElContinente #VibraOContinente pic.twitter.com/Yu2ltmFgWd
– Copa América (@CopaAmerica) June 22, 2021
Over in Group B, Peru took their first points of the competition with a 2-1 victory against Colombia. Sergio Peña fired his side into the lead before Colombia’s Miguel Borja restored parity from the penalty spot, although the Peruvians could not be denied and Everton man Yerry Mina’s second half own goal gave Peru a 2-1 victory.
Match day three other games saw Venezuela play an entertaining 2-2 draw with Ecuador. Ayrton Preciado put Ecuador ahead with a close-range finish before Venezuela equalized with the permission of Edson Castillo’s ballhead.
Gonzalo Plata ended a quick Ecuador break to seemingly leave his side the three points in the second half, but Venezuela struck again and in the 91st minute Ronald Hernandez’s brilliant header saved a late point for his side.
