FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Lionel Messi scored and added two assists in his first start in Copa America this year to lead Argentina over Venezuela 4-1 on Saturday night and into a semifinal against the host United States.
Messi’s goal in the 60th minute gave Argentina a 3-0 lead and was his 54th in international play, tying the national record set by Gabriel Batistuta, according to Argentina’s governing body. The Barcelona star also took over the Copa America scoring lead with his fourth goal of the tournament.
Argentina now has two days to rest before playing the U.S. in Houston on Tuesday night. The Americans have been off since beating Ecuador on Thursday.
CHILE 7, MEXICO 0
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Eduardo Vargas scored four goals, Edson Puch added two, and defending champion Chile thoroughly dismantled Mexico from every angle in a 7-0 Copa America quarterfinal trouncing Saturday night.
Mexico’s best unbeaten streak in history ended in embarrassing fashion at 22 matches, one day shy of a year since El Tri’s last loss to Ecuador in the Copa group stage.
After Vargas found the net for the final time on this extraordinary display of shot-making, the star forward jumped in the air and pumped his right fist as his shaggy hair swayed in the Bay Area breeze. And a sold-out stadium of 70,547 that began the night like a Mexico home game quickly emptied of El Tri fanaticos as the clock wound down.
Alexis Sanchez had a goal and two assists, and Puch scored the bookends for Chile — starting things off in the 16th minute and punctuating this dominant night with an 88th-minute score.