Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the hero for world champions Argentina as they beat Ecuador on penalties in Houston to advance to the Copa America semi-finals. The Aston Villa star saved spot kicks from Angel Mena and Alan Minda as Argentina prevailed 4-2 in the shootout.
Lisandro Martinez’s first international goal had given Argentina a 1-0 lead in the first half of this fixture. The Manchester United centre-back nodded home at the far post after Alexis MacAllister’s flicked header from a corner in the 35th minute of the game.
Ecuador had a glorious chance to equalise on the hour mark after Rodrigo de Paul was penalised for handball, but Enner Valencia ended up hitting the post with his spot kick despite sending Martinez the wrong way.
Substitute Kevin Rodriguez’s stoppage time header saw Ecuador equalise in dramatic circumstances, and they could’ve even won it had Jordy Caicedo not sent his late header wide.
Caicedo’s miss eventually saw the game go to penalties and despite Messi missing his spot kick, Argentina prevailed thanks to Martinez’s heroics. Alvarez, MacAllister, Montiel and Otamendi made no mistakes with their penalties and Lionel Scaloni’s side progressed to the last four, where they will now meet either Venezuela or Canada.
