Argentina look to overcome dangerous Ecuador

Unbeaten and with an inform Lionel Messi, Argentina secured their progression to the next round in confident fashion while their opponetns Ecuador, who are yet to show their best football, found it more difficult.

With that said, this is set to be a very interesting quarterfinal between two dangerous attacking side.

This intriguing game will kickoff on Saturday night at 22:00 local time (1:00 GMT) in Goiania.

Scaloni’s side finished the group stage with a comfortable win against Bolivia to secure top spot in Group A. This provided a positive end to what has been a largely controlled outing so far for Argentina.

Despite the positives, the midfield is still a source of uncertainty and Ecuador’s energetic press and quick transitions could cause some real problems.

Ecuador ensured qualification with a good final day draw with Brazil, the group winners who had a 100% record prior to the meeting with La Tri. Ecuador’s impressive young generation has shown over the past year that they are capable of some huge results.

Fans of Ecuador will be dreaming of their first Copa America win. Argentina, on the other hand, have been crowned champions on 15 occasions but despite reaching the final 4 times in the last 20 years, haven’t won the competition since 1993.

– Datos –

Stadium: Mané Garrincha (Brasilia).

Time: 19:00 local time (22:00 GMT)

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)

– History –

• Argentina has never lost to Ecuador in their 15 meetings at the CONMEBOL Copa América (10 wins, 5 draws). Argentina has scored in 13 of the 15 games but this is the first meeting in the knockout round.
• Argentina has not conceded against Ecuador in the CONMEBOL Copa América in any of their last 5 meetings (3 wins, 2 draws). In this period Argentina has scored 12 and conceded 2.
• Ecuador has only lost 1 of their last 5 games in the CONMEBOL Copa América. However, they have not won any of these 5 games with 4 draws (3 consecutively).
• Argentina is the only team at the CONMEBOL Copa América to have scored directly from a freekick: Lionel Messi scored against Chile on the opening game of the competition
• Lionel Messi is the player who has completed the most dribbles at the CONMEBOL Copa América (22).

OPTA