Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, and Rodrigo Bentancur have all secured their places in the final four of this summer’s Copa America.
Coincidentally, both Romero and Lo Celso’s Argentina and Bentancur’s Uruguay are in the semi-finals courtesy of penalty shootout wins.
In the Copa America, before the final, any knockout stage game that ends in a draw after 90 minutes will go straight to penalties, with no extra time. This suits the outsider teams, as they have 30 minutes less to hold onto before fancying their luck with penalties.
However, when you go up against Emi Martinez in a penalty shoot-out, you need to get it done in the 90 minutes. Argentina had gone ahead in the first half thanks to a header from Romero’s central defensive partner, Lisandro Martinez, but conceded a goal in second-half stoppage time and a shoot-out was to come.
Lionel Messi chipped his penalty onto the bar, but as always, Emi Martinez went on to save two penalties in a row to help secure Romero and Lo Celso a place in the semi-finals.
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Romero played the whole 90 minutes, making 5 tackles and 2 clearances, as well as winning 6/8 duels (SofaScore). Lo Celso came on as a late substitute, replacing Lisandro Martinez for the final 12 minutes. Despite both being on the pitch, neither player took a penalty in the shootout.
Bentancur and his Uruguay side came out victors over 2019 Champions Brazil, winning their penalty shootout 4-2 after a goalless 90 minutes. Bentancur came on for the final 23 minutes, although Uruguay went down to 10 men mere minutes after his introduction so it was hard to make an impact during the game.
However, the Spurs midfielder was able to make an impact during the penalty shootout. Stepping up second, he calmly placed his penalty down to Alisson’s left-hand side.
Romero and Lo Celso will face off against Canada in their semi-final, having already beaten the North American Copa America debutants 2-0 in their first group game. Bentancur will showdown with Colombia in a juicy affair for a place in the final.
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Publish date : 2024-07-08 11:41:32
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