Copa America: Argentina through to the semi - finals on penalties

Argentina go flying into the Copa America semi-finals: the 'Albiceleste managed to beat Ecuador on penalties after a hard-fought game, balanced until the very last.

It took 90 minutes and 9 penalties to establish the winner of the quarter-final clash: Argentina went ahead in the first half with a header from Lisadro Martinez in the 35th minute. They managed to defend the advantage until 90+2', when Kevin Rodriguez levelled things up with a header as practically the last move of the game after Enner Valencia also missed a penalty for Ecuador.

There will be no extra time in the Copa America until the very end: games go straight to penalties and this one started with a Leo Messi error. It was specialist goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who decided the game, saving penalties from Mena and Minda, securing the Albiceleste lead. No more misses: Alvarez, Mac Allister and Montiel converted for Argentina and Yeboah and Caicedo for Ecuador. The decisive penalty came from Otamendi: the defender converted to secure Argentina’s spot in the semi-finals.

The game was played at the NRG Stadium in Houston where Lautaro Martinez started his second in a row, having scored 4 goals in the 3 group stage games and currently leads the rankings as the top goalscorer at the tournament. The Nerazzurri captain played for 65 minutes before being substituted at 1-0 for Julian Alvarez. Valentin Carboni was not called into action by Scaloni.

Now Argentina must wait to find out who they will play next: the World Cup champions will either play Canada or Venezuela in the semi-final on 9 July in East Rutherford.