Lionel Messi and Argentina are now in the knockout stages of the Copa America Centenario and there is nothing that should stop them from claiming the trophy, besides themselves.
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Aguilar is expecting another “back-and-forth” game, and Mexico know the group-stage win will mean little if it can’t get past a Chile squad that was runner-up to Argentina in Group D.
Argentina has won all their three matches of the group stages and thus qualified fro the Quarters easily.
Despite being bottom of the CONMEBOL World Cup 2018 qualifying section and without a win, Venezuela qualified for the quarterfinals of the Copa America at the expense of 15-time champions Uruguay in Group C and were only denied top spot by Mexico’s superior goal difference.
“I’ve seen him [Angel Di Maria] running around the pitch, and I see him in good spirits as well”, Martino told Goal.com. “But I can’t tell you when he will be available to play”.
A back problem he picked up before the start of the tournament, plus personal court distractions, have hammered the Barcelona forward’s journey.
“The Mexican team has a style of play that when you make a mistake they make you feel it, so we have to be very focused”.
On the other side, Venezuela has been undefeated in this tournament so far and started their tournament with a bang as they managed to win against Jamaica by 1-0 and against Uruguay by 1-0 and then managed to draw against one of the tournament favourite team Mexico by 1-1. Messi has not needed to be a hero yet, though he has been brilliant in this time for Argentina.
‘We are doing well in all aspects.
“From the beginning until now, we have grown a lot”.
The winners at the Gillette Stadium will face hosts United States in the semi-finals, and Martino acknowledged Rafael Dudamel’s side will not be simple opponents.
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“And with a striker like [Salomon] Rondon who knows how to hold the ball up and let the midfielders get involved in the attack – those are the things we have to keep in mind when we face Venezuela”.
