Martínez scores twice as Argentina beat Peru without Messi

Lautaro Martínez scored twice and Argentina, playing without the injured Lionel Messi, wrapped up Copa America group play with a 2-0 win over Peru on Saturday night.

A nicely placed through ball from Ángel Di María led to Martínez’s first goal in the 47th minute. Martínez was embraced by teammates afterward, then went to hug Messi, who was standing near Argentina’s bench.

“I went to hug Leo for everything he means to us,” Martínez said through an interpreter.

Martínez doubled Argentina’s lead in the 86th minute and now has a tournament-leading four goals.

“Every time I wear this shirt I enjoy it,” Martínez said. “Many want to wear this shirt. I work to show the coach that I am ready to play when he needs me.”

Messi did not play as he nurses a leg injury suffered in Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Chile on Tuesday that clinched a quarterfinal berth for the defending champions. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was also absent after being suspended because of his team’s late second-half return to the pitch in its previous two Copa matches.

Saturday, the Albiceleste walked out for the second half just a few seconds before Peru.

Argentina assistant Walter Samuel, who took Scaloni’s place, said after the match that Messi is still day to day.

“I talked to him, and he’s getting better,” Samuel said through an interpreter, “but it’s been just a couple of days and it’s too early to tell. We want to continue to listen to him and the doctors.”

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Playing with nine changes to its starting lineup, Argentina controlled possession (74%) for the third straight match and had six shots on goal, while being held scoreless in the first half for the third straight match.

The game was played in front of about 64,000 fans at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, which will also host the final on July 14. Most fans cheered for Argentina while wearing different versions of Messi’s No. 10 jersey.

Canada played Chile to a scoreless draw in another Group A match on Saturday in Orlando, Florida, to also advance to the next round, which will be the country’s first Copa America quarterfinal.

Argentina will learn its knockout stage opponent when Group B finishes on Sunday. Group leader Venezuela plays Jamaica at Austin, Texas, and second-place Ecuador plays Mexico at Glendale, Arizona.

Argentina will face the runner-up of Group B on Thursday at Houston.

Nicolás Tagliafico appeared to score for Argentina in the 55th minute after tapping in the ball at the back post, but the officials ruled that goaltender Pedro Gallese, who made four saves, was blocked and the goal was disallowed.

Argentina had another chance when the team was awarded a penalty after a handball in the box by Jesús Castillo. But Leandro Paredes blasted the ball into the right post, and the score remained 1-0.

Argentina, aiming for a record 16th Copa America title, won all three of its matches in group play. Goaltender Emiliano Martínez did not allow a goal in the round and made six saves. Argentina hoisted the championship trophy in 2021 after beating Brazil 1-0 in the title game.

Peru was held without a goal Saturday for the third game of the tournament and has no goals in 11 of its last 14 matches. Peru played a scoreless draw against Chile in its Copa America opener, then lost 1-0 to Canada. The team reached the semifinals in 2021 before losing to Brazil.

“I believe that Peru’s performance today was the weakest of all three games,” Peru coach Jorge Fossati said through an interpreter.

Martínez scores twice as Argentina beat Peru without Messi

Germany beat Denmark 2-0 to reach Euro 2024 quarters

Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz scored as Euro 2024 hosts Germany reached the quarter-finals by beating Denmark in a game that was interrupted by a spectacular storm.

The last-16 tussle at Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion was suspended for around 20 minutes towards the end of the first half, as lightning lit up the sky and the pitch was soaked by hail and heavy rain.

But the game was also notable for calls by the video assistant referee, with Nico Schlotterbeck having had an early header ruled out by VAR, while Denmark were denied in the second half when Joachim Andersen’s strike was chalked off as team-mate Thomas Delaney was flagged just offside.

Germany were celebrating another VAR call in their favour moments after the Danes’ disallowed goal when referee Michael Oliver was called to the pitchside monitor and awarded a penalty for handball by the luckless Andersen.

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Havertz put a cool spot-kick out of Kasper Schmeichel’s reach to delight the passionate home fans.

The forward should have scored a second soon after when he clipped a shot over Schmeichel only to see it go wide, but Germany had their decisive second with just over 20 minutes remaining.

This time it was young star Musiala who got the goal as he raced through on the left and slotted into the far corner.

From then on the home fans were on their feet, roaring their side on for more goals, hoping they would really lay down a marker to suggest they might go all the way.

No more were forthcoming, but the Germany fans cheered their side passionately at the final whistle in celebration of this convincing win.

They will next play the winner of Sunday’s game between Spain, who have looked one of the best sides so far, and surprise package Georgia. The quarter-final is scheduled for Friday, 5 July.

Germany beat Denmark 2-0 to reach Euro 2024 quarters

JUST IN: Germany, Denmark Euro 2024 game restarts after storm

The Euro 2024 last-16 tie between Germany and Denmark on Saturday restarted following a delay of almost 25 minutes due to a violent storm.

The rain having stopped, English referee Michael Oliver allowed the players to undertake a brief warm-up on the pitch prior to restarting the game with a drop ball just before 10pm local time (2000 GMT).

The score was 0-0 at the time of the stoppage.

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Oliver had halted the match in Dortmund in the 35th minute, taking the players off the pitch amid torrential rain, hailstones, high winds, thunder and lightning.

Big screens inside the stadium informed the crowd of 60,000 that the game had been halted due to “adverse weather conditions”.