Messi grabs hat-trick as Argentina ease into quarters of Copa America Centenario

Lionel Messi scored a magical hat-trick in 19
minutes as Argentina cruised into the Copa America Centenario
quarter-finals with a 5-0 rout of Panama on Friday.

Messi had been forced to delay his debut in the
tournament after a slow recovery from a lower back injury, with
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino surprisingly naming him amongst the
substitutes once more.

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But Messi wasted no time in stamping his genius
on the tournament after coming on in the 61st minute to replace Augusto
Fernandez with Argentina leading the group D game 1-0.

An electrifying cameo from the Barcelona superstar began with his first goal of the tournament on 68 minutes,
finishing with aplomb after Gonzalo Higuain’s shot bounced off a
Panamanian defender into his path.

But there was no question of luck with his
second, with Messi curling a wonderful free-kick into the top corner to
bring the Soldier Field crowd to its feet in the 78th minute.

With Panama’s heads down, Messi then duly
completed his quick-fire hat-trick — skipping clear of a marker inside
the penalty area to finish emphatically for 4-0.

There was still time for Messi to have a hand in
Argentina’s fifth goal of the evening, providing a sublime pass in the
build-up to Sergio Aguero’s close range headed effort in the 90th
minute.

Aguero’s Manchester City team-mate Nicolas
Otamendi had opened the scoring for Argentina in the seventh minute,
heading home an Angel Di Maria free-kick from close range.