After 4 appearances in Copa America 2019, Lionel Messi has only scored 1 goal. That was the penalty kick in the 1-1 draw with Paraguay in the group stage.
The Barcelona star has received a lot of criticism for his unimpressive performances in this tournament. However, Angel Di Maria, who just celebrated his 100th cap for Argentina against Venezuela, believes Messi is making a significant contribution to the team.
Di Maria shared with the media: "I think Leo is doing very well. He doesn't score like usual but I think he's doing a good job.
Messi ran and gave everything he could. He had to continue running and the rest of the players would move. I think he is playing very well.
In fact, after the recent 2-0 victory over Venezuela, Messi thought differently: This is not the Copa America where I have achieved my best form, not as I expected.
Many matches have taken place in this direction. You can't play too much. Things are even more complicated for those who want to make a difference, avoiding the opponent's fouls. The important thing is that we won and went on in this tournament.
In the 2019 Copa America semi-finals, Argentina will face Brazil. Di Maria understood that he and his teammates had to be in the best condition to overcome the home team.
He expressed his thoughts: Brazil will enter the match as an opponent equal to us. They were cheered by their home fans. We have to try to play our way against Venezuela and hope everything goes well.
The first semi-final match of Copa America 2019 between host Brazil and Argentina will take place at mineirao Stadium (Belo Horizonte city) at 7:30 a.m. on July 3, Vietnam time.
