Lionel Messi's not been going through the best of times. Caught between defending himself against charges of tax evasion and picking up an injury in Argenina's warm-up game against Honduras, the Barcelona superstar did not play in his country's Copa America opener, a narrow 2-1 victory over Chile.
He started on the bench again in Argentina's second game against Panama on Saturday. And his absence continued to affect the Albiceleste – despite Nicolas Otamendi's diving header in the seventh minute, it looked like an even game as Argentina just about maintained a slender 1-0 lead.
Then Messi came on in the 61st minute. And finally, finally, he showed off that magic, which he performs week in, week out for Barcelona. Seven minutes later, he displayed that famed poaching instinct as Panama botched a clearance, Messi latched on to it, and calmly slotted it in.
The second one, ten minutes later, was a trademark goal. This time, Messi stepped up to take a free-kick. With that prized left foot of his, he unleashed a devastating curler which beat the wall and a flailing Panama 'keeper, the ball grazing the post as it went in.
The third one was one of his classics. Coming into the box, the Argentinian captain was, as usual, swamped by a wave of Panama defenders. But easy as you like, he side-stepped all of them and easily got the shot away to complete his hat-trick. A brilliant performance, but he wasn't done just yet – in the final few minutes of the game, he again provided an effortless long ranger, scooping it over the defence and allowing Sergio Aguero to get Argentina's fifth goal.
The final score-line: 5-0. Messi's contribution: three goals and an assist. And taking Argentina through to the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere in the group, Chile just about remained alive thanks to a controversial last-gasp penalty which gave them a 2-1 win over Bolivia.
It was Arturo Vidal who put Chile in front in the 46th minute with a shot from ten yards out, but Chilean fans were quickly silenced by an astounding free-kick from Jhasmani Campos in the 61st minute. It looked like it would peter out into a 1-1 draw, but with the referee giving eight minutes of extra time, Chile were awarded a controversial penalty after to a contentious hand-ball. Vidal made no mistake as Chile managed to escape with a win.
Argentina have qualified for the next stage and will face an already eliminated Bolivia in their last group game. Chile and Panama will play their last group game with the winner joining Argentina in the next stage.
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