Argentina vs. Venezuela: Score, Reaction from 2016 Copa America

Argentina waited until the quarterfinals of Copa America Centenario to give Lionel Messi his first start of the tournament, and the superstar made the most of his opportunity. On Saturday night against Venezuela, Messi recorded a goal and two assists to fuel Argentina to a 4-1 victory and into the semifinals.

Venezuela had given up just one goal in the first three matches of Copa America, but after 28 minutes against Argentina, they conceded two.  

From the first whistle, Messi made his presence known with a dangerous early cross that was cut off by Venezuelan keeper Dani Hernandez and then a left-footed shot that went tantalizingly wide—all within three minutes. 

In the eighth minute, he unleashed a brilliant ball from 40 yards out right onto the foot of striker Gonzalo Higuain, whose sliding finish put Argentina up 1-0. 

Univision Deportes showed the play, which was brilliant from both players involved:

Ryan Rosenblatt of Fox Sports couldn't get over Messi's assist:

Neither could SBS Football's David Zdrilic:

Argentinian elation turned to concern in the 22nd minute when Messi fell hard on top of the ball after Arquimedes Figuera took him down. No penalty was called, and Messi stayed down for a moment, but much to the relief of millions of soccer fans, he got up.

La Albiceleste soon had another reason to cheer when Higuain scored his second goal of the match in the 28th minute thanks to a turnover deep in Venezuelan territory from Figuera.

The midfielder's errant backpass rolled right into the path of the Argentinian striker, who easily finished past Hernandez, via Univision Deportes:

Venezuela answered nicely to the overwhelming Argentinian attack, but twice striker Jose Rondon was denied.

His first chance came off a Javier Mascherano turnover right outside the Argentina box. Rondon unleashed a vicious shot, but Sergio Romero saved it well. In the 39th minute, Rondon saw his header beat Romero, but it hit the post and stayed out. 

Romero then provided the save of the tournament a minute later when a shot by Rolf Feltscher was deflected and popped straight up over the keeper's head. But Argentina's last line of defense scrambled back and made a leaping push over the bar to keep Venezuela off the board. 

The save floored Fox Soccer:

Romero came up huge once again in the 43rd minute after he conceded a penalty, making the save when Luis Manuel Seijas attempted to chip the ball from the spot. The attempted Panenka-style penalty floated harmlessly into the arms of the standing Romero. 

ESPN soccer podcast Caught Offside had some advice for Seijas:

Argentina was off the hook, and Messi took advantage of Venezuela's inability to score on their numerous chances with a historic goal in the 60th minute. 

After playing a quick one-two with Nicolas Gaitan, Messi was in on Hernandez's goal, slipping a low shot under the keeper to put Argentina up 3-0, via Univision Deportes:

It was Messi's 54th international goal for Argentina, tying him with Gabriel Batistuta for the most ever with La Albiceleste, via the FX telecast. 

Ten minutes later, Venezuela finally found a breakthrough via Rondon, who headed a beautiful cross from Alejandro Guerra bouncing past Romero. 

But Messi was having none of it, as he set up Erik Lamela for Argentina's fourth just one minute after Rondon's tally. 

Argentina's next opponent is the United States, whom Bleacher Report UK believes might be panicking after seeing Messi and Co.'s performance on Saturday night:

The Americans have every right to worry given Argentina's play. This is a side that can flat-out overwhelm teams with inconsistent defenses like the United States. With a deep group of dangerous strikers in Higuain and Sergio Aguero and with Messi pulling the strings, Argentina are the clear favorite to win this competition. 

Postgame Reaction

"He knows that he's a game-changing player," Argentina coach Geraldo Martino said of Messi, per the Associated Press (via the Boston Herald). "Everybody's trying to cancel him. But he knows when to play one against one. He knows when to pass the ball to other players. There may be times when he lets some other player take advantage of this."

"We're very happy with the way that he has been evolved [sic], the way that he recovered from his injury," Martino added of his superstar, per the Associated Press. "His reinsertion into the team, we really value that, and we're happy to have him in good shape now that we're facing the semifinals."

"We tried to force them to play long balls," Venezuela coach Rafael Dudamel said, according to the Associated Press. "They have that stroke of genius that changes all your schemes. They had an incredible pass from Messi, and they scored. When you lose so early in the game, it's almost like a knockout."