Argentina survives Copa America scare after late Ecuador goal, Lionel Messi miss

Ecuador scored a late stoppage time goal and Lionel Messi missed his penalty kick attempt, but Argentina survived its biggest scare of Copa America 2024 thus far by winning 4-2 in penalties over their South American rival on Thursday night at NRG Stadium in Houston. After a 1-1 draw following two halves, the game went straight to penalties, and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez proved to be the difference-maker when it mattered the most — stopping Ecuador’s first two penalty kicks before Julian Alvarez and Alexis Mac Allister gave the country an early lead. Gonzalo Montiel scored on his attempt for Argentina and Nicolas Otamendi converted his shot to seal the win and send his side to the semifinals next week at MetLife Stadium. But it was a nearly surreal turn of events that led the quarterfinal match to end up in a penalty shootout in the first place after Argentina controlled the game for most of the night. In fact, Argentina had enjoyed a relatively smooth road in Copa America until late Thursday night, having not conceded a goal for more than 360 minutes in this year’s tournament.But a ball sent into the box in stoppage time was headed by Kevin Rodriguez and past Martínez to tie the game at 1-1, giving Ecuador hope that it could topple Argentina and inch closer to capturing the country’s first-ever Copa America title. This came after Ecuador nearly scored the tying goal earlier in the match when Enner Valencia took a penalty kick in the 62nd minute, but his shot hit off the post and stayed out of the net.After a lengthy review, the goal was confirmed and Ecuador nearly found the game-winner moments later when a header by Jordy Caicedo went wide of the net on what looked like it could have been the golden goal for La Tricolor. In the penalty shootout, the scene took another bizarre twist when Argentina sent one of the world’s greatest footballers up to shoot first. Messi clearly fooled Ecuadorian keeper Alexander Dominguez, but his shot ra...