OK, we’re going to wrap this blog up now. Well done to Argentina; commiserations to Venezuela, who played well and didn’t deserve to lose so heavily. Thanks for reading. Bye!
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You want more? Well, here’s Graham Parker to take you through Mexico v Chile, which should be awesome.
It’s tough at the top, eh? Venezuela played really well in patches, and created several quality chances, but they made too many mistakes in defence, and couldn’t handle Lionel Messi. But who can, really? He’s just preposterously good at football, isn’t he? He was magnificent tonight: quick, busy, inventive, precise – and took his goal expertly to draw level with Gabriel Batistuta on 54 international goals.
Serious question: with Messi in form like this, how can USA possibly win on Tuesday?
Full-time: Argentina 4-1 Venezuela
That’s the whistle, and Argentina book their semi-final spot.
90 min: Messi tries to embarrass Hernandez from a corner, but it’s just wide. Two minutes of stoppage time.
89 min: Lamela and Aguero have looked busy since their introduction. With Gaitan suspended for the semi-final, will Lamela get a starting spot?
87 min: Mascherano, Roy Hodgson’s special little guy, attempts a forward dribble, but it comes to nought. Argentina win it back, Aguero shoots right-footed, but Hernandez saves comfortably.
86 min: It’s all rather petering out here. Argentina happy to play a spot of rondo.
84 min: Rincon, the skipper, goes down injured, and Velasquez is in.
JR in Illinois says boing, boing, or something: “West Brom representing! Between Rondon in Copa America and Gareth McAuley for Northern Ireland in the Euros I think it’s fair to say the Baggies are dominating international football. Messi should think about hitching his wagon to their star.”
83 min: Argentina happy to keep the ball, and keep everyone fit for Tuesday’s game with USA.
81 min: An additional administrative note: with his goal, Lionel Messi has now become this tournament’s leading scorer, with four.
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80 min: Del Valle is on for Martinez, who has worked tirelessly. Biglia, who started in the World Cup final two years ago, replaces Banega for Argentina.
78 min: Aguero looks in the mood for goals, and is bemused when he doesn’t get the corner he thinks he should have had. Rightly: it came last off Angel.
76 min: Rondon fouls Otamendi, and is booked for his reaction. He’s pissed off. I would be, probably, if I were him. He’s been brilliant tonight.
74 min: Sergio Aguero replaces Gonzalo Higuain. Messi tries to curl one from 20 yards after a delicious piece of skill, but it’s just wide.
72 min: Well, Venezuela had worked hard to get their goal, and then they just coughed one up so easily. It was a great work from Rondon to glance one past Romero – he leaps so well, doesn’t he? – but then Argentina attacked, Messi fed Lamela, whose shot wasn’t the best, but Hernandez seemed to get his feet stuck, and it just dribbled past his rather feeble right-handed attempt. Another piece of bad defendin. Four-one.
GOAL! Argentina 4-1 Venezuela (Lamela 71)
So Argentina just go up the other end and score – but it’s a bad error from Dani Hernandez.
GOAL! Argentina 3-1 Venezuela (Rondon 70)
Great header, and a deserved goal for Salomon Rondon.
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69 min: But they win a corner, their seventh, and Guerra takes, but Funes Mori heads firmly clear. Argentina can’t make it count on the break.
67 min: Erik Lamela replaces Nicolas Gaitan. Venezuela look deflated.
65 min: Some sympathy for Venezuela: it hasn’t really been a 3-0 game. But they haven’t half made some dopey mistakes in defence. And, of course, there’s the small matter of that absurd penalty. I think Seijas was substituted for emotional, much less tactical, reasons.
64 min: Corner to Argentina, and Hernandez flapped at it, but the whistle had gone for a non-existent foul.
62 min: That’s a yellow card for Figuera, after his 315th foul of the night.
61 min: Messi finished it with supreme composure, just poking it through Hernandez’s legs from Gaitan’s cute pass, but what a bad piece of defending from Vizcarrondo. He just gave it away, rather like Figuera in the first half, and suddenly Argentina had a three on two. They executed it perfectly – Gaitan released it at just the right moment – and that’s 54 international goals for Lionel Messi.
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GOAL! Argentina 3-0 Venezuela (Messi 60)
And Messi equals Gabriel Batistuta’s national record! What a genius.
58 min: Argentina have come out with renewed purpose after the break. Venezuela can’t get the ball at the moment.
57 min: Venezuela have a slight air of Wimbledon circa 1987 about them: they’re quite to put a boot up someone’s arse if need be. But Roberto Orozco has been absurdly lenient tonight, and Feltscher escapes what should have been a certain booking after a foul on Otamendi.
55 min: Change for Venezuela: Juanpi replaces Seijas, ending his miserable night. Argentina attack, and Fernandez’s header from Mercado’s cross is over the bar.
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53 min: Free kick on the right side, and Banega swings it in, but it’s defended easily enough by Venezuela.
51 min: Oh, that was a chance for Guerra – it fell to him in the box but he completely miscued. It was blocked, and Argentina broke, until Messi was taken down by a trio of Venezuelan defenders, bringing to mind Cameroon on Claudio Caniggia 26 years ago. Yellow for Angel.
50 min: Guerra with the inswinger, and Martinez got to it first, but it’s over the bar. Venezuela are rugged and physical, and they’re a threat at set pieces.
49 min: Free kick 45 yards from goal, central position. Guerra with it, and Mascherano heads behind for a corner.
48 min: Venezuela on the front foot here, pushing Argentina back. I really hope they don’t live to rue those missed chances.
We're back!
46 min: No changes from either side. Can Venezuela pick up where they left off? And an early chance for Higuain! Gaitan escaped down the left, left Angel on his backside, and cut it back for Higuain … but Rincon, I think it was, did very well to block, and clear the danger. That could have been game over.
Here’s Muhammad Bilal: “This game is amazingly turning out to be similar to tonight’s game of Portugal vs Austria. Missed chances, a missed penalty and some great goalkeeping (Argentina, Austria). Only difference is Higuain and that terrific Messi assist.”
And an email from Matan: “Lifelong Argentina fan here – my dad is a Cordoba native. Did you think Argentina’s defending was a bit casual during that period of sustained pressure late in the half? Every time a blue shirt was first to a loose ball, I was shouting for them to clear it, but they kept on trying to gain possession. The eventual foul in the box felt like an inevitable result of complacency to me.”
Yep, I think you’re dead right. Sloppy from Argentina: best exemplified by the giveaway from Mascherano from which Rondon nearly scored. They need to pick it up.
Here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Well, we can now add a new term to the lexicon of world soccer: From this day forth, a Seijas is what you call a Panenka that goes embarrassingly awry!”
A really watchable first half. One great goal from Argentina, one terrible defensive concession, a header off the post, a brilliant save from Romero, and a seriously amusing penalty fail from Seijas. Just a shame that Venezuela couldn’t convert just before half-time: you get the feeling they had to make one of those chances count.
Venezuela were excellent over that past 10 minutes – they really unsettled that Argentina defence. What a spectacular failure from Seijas.
Here’s Sam in Texas: “So how about that refereeing, huh? The Copa seems a million times more exciting than the Euros. But that may be sour grapes because I can’t watch the Euros for free in the US. And now a horrific, comical penalty. Ay, Venezuela!”
Half-time: Argentina 2-0 Venezuela
What an end to the half. That’s the whistle.
44 min: What a moment. Seijas! He went for the spoon, the Panenka, il cucchiaio, but Romero read it! And he just stood there and claimed it into his chest. Amazing.
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PENALTY MISS! (Seijas, Venezuela 43)
And he chipped it straight into Romero’s hands! Oh no!
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Penalty to Venezuela!
And it’s Romero on Martinez! A minute after making a brilliant save!
41 min: Romero with another save – and that’s brilliant work from the goalkeeper! Feltscher hit one from 20 yards, it was deflected, and looked to be looping into the net, but Romero did spectacularly to move his feet, get back, and tip it over the bar! The save of the tournament?
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39 min: Corner to Venezuela. And off the post from Rondon! Gah, that’s so unlucky. Seijas whipped it in, and Rondon got up so well above Otamendi, craning his neck to fire a header at goal – but it came back off the woodwork! Romero was beaten.
38 min: At the moment, Argentina seem happy to sit in, encourage Venezuela on to them, and then strike like lightning. Gaitan goes down the left and is incredulous when the ref gives a throw to Venezuela rather than him.
37 min: Decent little spell for Venezuela, and Martinez streaks clear down the left, but Funes Mori is quickly across and does well to lever him off it.
36 min: Banega is down, momentarily, but I think he’ll be OK. He just got his toe trodden on.
35 min: Great save by Romero! Mascherano was dispossessed on the edge of the box, it broke to Rondon, who truly thrashed it with his left foot, but Romero did really well to get down and block. Rondon perhaps might have tried to find the corner, but he hit it hard, and that’s a fine reaction stop from the goalie.
33 min: If this result holds, Argentina will be playing USA in a hot, hot semi-final in Houston on Tuesday.
31 min: Rafael Dudamel, on the Venezuela bench, looks pissed. That was such dopey play from Figuera. And why did Hernandez rush out of goal?
Here’s JR in Illinois: “It looks like Venezuela is trying to hurt someone, particularly Messi. I’m a bit concerned they are going to succeed soon and this could get really ugly.”
Yeah, one or two slightly nasty challenges. Let’s hope no one gets too carried away.
29 min: It was a deeply sloppy pass from Figuera – Vizcarrondo and Angel were out of position, Hernandez raced out, and was caught in no man’s land. Higuain just took a touch and slotted it into an empty net. Venezuela are in trouble here.
GOAL! Argentina 2-0 Venezuela (Higuain 28)
Oh dear, oh dear. A terrible mix-up in the Venezuela defence, and Higuain just ran clear to roll it into the net. Two for Higuain!
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27 min: Yellow card for Gaitan, and he’ll miss the semi-final if Argentina get there. He was late on Gonzalez, and it was deserved.
25 min: There’s been a bit of needle in this game, and one or two naughty fouls from Venezuela. Now Venezuela break, and Rondon with a half-chance, but Funes Mori, I think it was, does well to lever him off it. Now a penalty shout in the Argentina box! The referee waves play on, but I’d love to see that again.
23 min: Now an Argentina free kick in a dangerous area, 25 yards from goal. Messi with it, but it’s a routine save from Dani Hernandez.
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21 min: Messi goes down in the penalty box, but the referee says no! Mascherano is incandescent. It was Figuera tracking Messi, and it looked as though he just bumped him from behind, but nothing doing from Roberto Orozco. It looked pretty clear. “It’s a penalty,” says Fifa match commissioner Dr Joe Machnik on Fox.
18 min: Now Marcos Rojo, marauding forward on the left is offside, although he probably wasn’t. A mild lull after the initial opening flurry.
16 min: Guerra tosses in a free-kick into the box, but Rondon is offside.
14 min: It’s been a refreshing opening quarter-hour. Venezuela haven’t just sat deep in defence, but Messi looks to be on the money. Another hard tackle from Venezuela, this time from Vizcarrondo, but no booking. Messi clips in the free kick, but it’s easily cleared.
11 min: Chance for Rondon! Venezuela forced a corner, it was headed back in, Rondon read it, but just couldn’t connect! It rolled through to Romero. Decent chance.
10 min: That’s Higuain’s 28th international goal. Man alive, Argentina have some good attackers, don’t they? To Venezuela’s credit, they haven’t just sat back, but that’s a mistake from Hernandez, off limits, and Messi with the lob … wide! Hernandez got into difficulty, it looped up into the air, and Messi tried to place it, on the volley, into an empty net, but couldn’t do it! And he gives a rueful smile – you would have expected him to score.
9 min: What a great goal. Messi picked it up 40 yards from goal, and bent a just stunning pass over the defence, into Higuain’s path, who made the run and tucked it under Hernandez. Great finish, but the pass from Messi … Imperious.
GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Venezuela (Higuain 8)
Higuain’s first goal of the tournament!
6 min: Figuera bodychecks Messi in crude fashion, but no card. Roberto Orozco issues a final warning to the Venezuela midfielder.
4 min: A little late from Seijas, and an early booking! It didn’t look that bad. But now Seijas would miss the semi-final if Venezuela get there – and he has 86 minutes to avoid another caution.
3 min: Messi bends one! Just wide. This is an intense start from Argentina.
2 min: First touch for Lionel Messi, and the crowd is already on its feet. He goes left, past a slew of defenders, and crosses to the back post, but Hernandez is quickly out to claim.
And we're off!
1 min: We’re under way. It’s a lovely evening in Massachusetts, and it looks pretty full. Gaitan has a first run down the left, but Angel is quickly across.
The teams are out on the pitch. We’re just listening to the anthems.
A reminder: this game will go straight to penalties if the scores are level after 90 minutes. I know: it’s stupid, isn’t it? It ruins the whole, let’s say, grammar of the game, if that doesn’t sound too pretentious. And as Peru showed last night, it makes playing for penalties a reasonable objective from pretty early on.
Tonight's hot prediction
I say 4-1 Argentina. I think Gonzalo Higuain might “go off” tonight – weirdly, he’s yet to score in this tournament. And this after a record-breaking season of 36 Serie A goals for Napoli.
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To paraphrase Mötley Crüe, and if history is anything to go by, tonight could see goals, goals, goals:
This should be good… #ARGvVEN is the highest goalscoring matchup in #CopaAmerica history with an avg. of 6.5 goals! pic.twitter.com/Z4oFfS3mP8
— Copa América 2016 (@CA2016) June 18, 2016
Well, Venezuela sure have got some long legs and burgundy strips.
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If you missed it, this is excellent from Tom Dart, on why Venezuela’s football team can help to put on hold the troubles and traumas of the world beyond the pitch:
Good omen department: in 20 games, Argentina have beaten Venezuela 19 times, including four in Copa America. Venezuela’s one victory came during a World Cup qualifier in 2011: a 1-0 victory in Puerto la Cruz, thanks to a goal from Fulham’s Fernando Amorebieta.
So Lionel Messi is confirmed as a starter, but Angel di Maria is still injured. It looks like 4-3-3 from Tata Martino, with Messi in an attacking role alongside Higuain and Gaitan. The first-choice back four returns, and Everton’s Ramiro Funes Mori will partner Man City’s Nicolas Otamendi in central defensive.
Venezuela go 4-5-1, with Salomon Rondon doing for his national team what he does for West Brom. Central pair Angel and Vizcarrondo will keep a tight defensive back line, and Rincon and Figuera will look to hassle and harry in front of them.
Tonight's teams
Argentina: Romero, Mercado, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Rojo, Fernandez, Mascherano, Banega, Messi, Higuain, Gaitan. Subs: Guzman, Maidana, Roncaglia, Kranevitter, Biglia, Aguero, Cuesta, Lamela, Pastore, Lavezzi, Andujar.
Venezuela: Hernandez, Gonzalez, Angel, Vizcarrondo, Feltscher, Guerra, Rincon, Figuera, Seijas, Rondon, Martinez. Subs: Contreras, Villanueva, Velazquez, Del Valle, Otero, Anor, Penaranda, Suarez, Rosales, Santos, Herrrera, Farinez.
Referee: Roberto Garcia Orozco (Mexico)
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Hello and welcome
It’s the third quarter-final of this Copa America – and we’re looking forward to watching the tournament’s best team. Argentina, ranked No1 in the world by Fifa, have breezed through this opening two weeks, winning all three of their matches, and winning well – plus they’ve done it largely without the world’s best player. Tonight Lionel Messi is fit, healthy, and ready to start, as his team take on Venezuela, the tournament’s surprise team, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and the prize is a semi-final date with USA.
Victory for Argentina looks extremely likely – they’ve been very impressive so far, and are stacked with attacking talent – but the Vinotinto are decent, unbeaten, and defensive: expect them to erect a giant wall of burgundy and try to steal a goal from a corner or free kick. Oh well: if the tactical battle is tedious, at least we get to see little Lionel play the full 90. He’s a magician, isn’t he?!
Kick off is slated for 7pm ET, but we should be under way at about 7.10. Join us!
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Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read about Argentina’s big tactical riddle:
He’s a winger. He’s a nine. He’s a 10. He’s Super Leo. Nobody would dare to question Messi’s superhero abilities, but few are capable of saying exactly what kind of superhero he really is. Is he a nine? Is he a 10? Is he something else? Does he need an out-and-out striker? Or is it better to play him as false nine?
The questions that have been floating in the air for the past decade will be present again on Saturday night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when Argentina faceVenezuela in the Copa America quarter-finals. It will be Messi’s first game in the starting XI following his recovery from the back injury he suffered in a friendly against Honduras, which forced him to start from the bench against Panama and Bolivia. There are also doubts whether Gonzalo Higuain, who hasn’t scored yet, or Sergio Agüero, Messi’s best friend, will play up front.
