Today was a fabulous day of football. Got up at 6:30 in the morning; was late by few minutes in switching on the TV. And by that time Argnetina had opened their account vs USA. The first goal a ball chipped by Messi from outside the box just where Lavezzi was moving in. The entire US defence was bypassed by that assist from Messi. The goal was scored just 3 minutes into the game.
The second goal is one of the most memorable goals of this edition of Copa and which is going to be remembered for a long time. Messi wearing a silver
boot generated a golden moment when he took the free kick from just outside the box. The US goalkeeper was standing near to the far post. Messi took the shot, the ball rose, curled and then dipped to enter the top right corner of the net. The US goalkeeper did try but that one was truly beyond his reach. With this goal Argentina more or less sealed the fate of USA. And Messi moved on to become the highest goal scorer or Argentina surpassing Batistuta.
boot generated a golden moment when he took the free kick from just outside the box. The US goalkeeper was standing near to the far post. Messi took the shot, the ball rose, curled and then dipped to enter the top right corner of the net. The US goalkeeper did try but that one was truly beyond his reach. With this goal Argentina more or less sealed the fate of USA. And Messi moved on to become the highest goal scorer or Argentina surpassing Batistuta.
Then came the third goal in the 50th minute when Higuain moved in cleverly capturing a rebound off the US goal keeper.
The fourth goal was again a sublime assist from Messi. He moved in parallel with Higuain into the box. With the ball at his feet the momentum of the entire defense was shifted to towards him leaving Higuain completely unmarked. At the final moment just before taking a shot Messi swiftly passed on the ball to Higuain who just scored from the sitter. An player in the position where Messi was for this goal would have been tempted to take a shot but Messi resisted that temptation and went for the option which had a higher success rate.
The fourth goal was again a sublime assist from Messi. He moved in parallel with Higuain into the box. With the ball at his feet the momentum of the entire defense was shifted to towards him leaving Higuain completely unmarked. At the final moment just before taking a shot Messi swiftly passed on the ball to Higuain who just scored from the sitter. An player in the position where Messi was for this goal would have been tempted to take a shot but Messi resisted that temptation and went for the option which had a higher success rate.
US didn't had much of an answer to the genius of Messi as he periodically destroyed the American defense. In spite of the score line you can never pass USA as a 'small team'. They had proved their capability against more fancied opponents in the past.
Argentina qualified for the second straight Copa America final and they would again be facing the same opponent Chile as last time; when they lost. Argentina last lifted the Copa in 1993 when Batistuta, Ortgea, Simeone used to play. But since then had reached the finals in 2004, 2007 and 2015 to loose every-time.
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