Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica last night, led by Lionel Messi who assisted two of the three goals. Argentina, the host country and favorites to lift the Copa America, struggled in their first two games against Bolivia and Colombia. Both games ended in a draw, 1-1 and 0-0, respectively. Messi was the target of criticism following the Bolivia and Colombia game, but tonight everyone seemed to forget about the disappointing start to the tournament.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista changed up his line-up last night, benching Man City Captain Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi. In their place he started Gonzalo Higuaín and Sergio Agüero. Midfielder Angel Di Maria was also added to the starting line-up. The scoring opened up when Sergio Agüero tapped in a rebound in the 45th min. Lionel Messi had his way with Costa Rica's "B" team, easily setting up scoring chances. Gonzalo Higuaín, unfortunately, was unable to convert Messi's pin-point passing into goals. On two occasions he sailed the shot over the crossbar. Luckily for Argentina, Agüero and Di Maria were able to convert Messi's through balls into goals.
"Lionel knows how to overcome these situations, he has personality to overcome them and today he showed it on the field," Sergio Batista said. "He played a tremendous match."
Argentina joins Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru in the quarterfinals.
