With Martinez's superb performance in the penalty shootout, Argentina finally defeated Ecuador through a penalty shootout and advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa America. Ecuador clearly played better than their opponents in this game, and if it wasn't for Valencia missing a penalty, if it wasn't for Martin's heroic performance throughout the game, the defending champions would have lost to the quarterfinals.
Messi is gradually showing his old age + the two bodyguards pull the side, and the Argentine team's midfield is out of control
In today's game, because Messi is more than a year older than during the World Cup, and Messi has left European football, his confrontation ability and movement speed have declined to a certain extent. As a result, Argentina's midfield was extremely chaotic. And Ecuador let Semedo in the front midfield, the arrangement of organizing the whole team's attack is a wonderful hand, and although the veteran Valencia missed a penalty, the fulcrum role in the front court is still obvious enough, so in this game, the Argentine team's midfield is out of control. Except for the last shot on goal, the Ecuador team did not do a good job in the final goal, and the overall form was indeed better than that of the defending champions.
Messi had decisive performances on both flashes, and Big Martin made up for the captain's mistakes at crucial moments
Messi had a very bad performance in this game, he didn't move fast enough and his range was too small. But Messi's two flashes were decisive. Argentina's goal came from a corner kick by the United States, and Argentina had a chance to take the lead again in the second half, when Messi's volley from the middle of the field after team-mates to get rid of the opponent's entanglement was too straight to end a delicate combination.
When Messi missed a penalty, I believe that some Argentine fans already had a bad feeling. But fortunately, the team won the final victory at the last moment thanks to the performance of Martinez. When the whole team is not in good shape and the team is in a desperate situation, this team has teammates who can step up and help the team through the most difficult moments, which is the momentum and capital of a great enough championship team.