Argentina booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Copa America 2016 thanks to a commanding performance from Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain has had his critics, but he showed just why he is regarded so highly by Gerardo Martino with two very well taken goals.
Lionel Messi was at his creative best scoring one and assisting two goals with his assist for the first goal being particularly noteworthy. In the end, Argentina proved to be too good for Venezuela as they secured a comfortable 4-1 victory.
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Argentina took the lead as early as the 8th minute thanks to a sublime Lionel Messi pass which was finished brilliantly by Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain also grabbed the second goal of the game in the 28th minute when he seized upon a dreadful back-pass by the Venezuelan defence to round goalkeeper Hernandez and slot the ball into an empty net.
Venezuela had an excellent chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty, but what followed next was scarcely believable as Seijas tried to be cheeky and went for a Panenka penalty but Romero just stood his spot and caught the ball leaving Seijas distraught. It was a huge let off for Argentina just before the half-time break.
The second half saw Argentina put the game beyond Venezuela when Lionel Messi scored thanks to some good work from Nicolas Gaitan. Venezuela momentarily threatened when Salomon Rondon rose highest to score for Venezuela, but the glimmer of hope for Venezuela was almost instantly quelled when Erik Lamela scored the 4th goal for Argentina with Lionel Messi getting the assist.
In the end, it was a comfortable enough win for Argentina and they will be hoping for a similar performance against the hosts in the semi-finals.
