Argentina are peaking at just the right time. They proved far too strong for Venezuela in their quarter-final match at the Copa America Centenario on Saturday night, easing past them 4-1.
Even more happily for the Albiceleste, Lionel Messi made his first start of the tournament and was in s form, scoring a goal and making two assists. Venezuela missed an easy penalty but they never really looked in contention. Argentina will now face the United States in the semi-final and US will have their work cut out, keeping Messi and Co quiet.
Ironically though, the sheer scale of the result of the other match meant Argentina's impressive performance faded in the shadows. Mexico hadn't lost in their last 22 games. Their opponents in the quarter-final, defending champions Chile had looked distinctly underwhelming through the tournament.
And then this happened.
Over 90 minutes, a stunned partisan crowd watched Mexico being torn to shreds by Chile and dumped out in the most insipid way possible. The goals kept coming – if it was a relatively sedate 2-0 to Chile in the first half, Mexico conceded five in the second half. The final result: a 7-0 victory for Chile. The Guardian called it, "as one-sided a game of football as you are ever likely to witness", while a Mexican journalist called it, "the blackest night in the history of Mexican football".
As for Chile, they go gloriously into their semi-final against Colombia on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in India). If things go according to form, it looks likely that the final will be a rerun of last year's Copa America final where Chile shocked Argentina. Going by this form, they could well do it again.
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