Martinez cracker helps lift Colombia past Argentina
SALVADOR — Roger Martinez scored an outstanding goal as Colombia beat Argentina 2-0 in an exciting finale to a Copa America Group B opener on Saturday that burst into life after a sluggish start.
Just as Colombia looked like being overwhelmed by a dangerous-looking Argentina side, substitute Martinez controlled a cross-field ball on the left wing in the 71st minute before cutting across the area and smashing it into the far top corner.
Fellow substitute Duvan Zapata made doubly sure Colombia would record their first win over Argentina since 2007 by knocking in a cross from Jefferson Lerma 15 minutes later.
“We knew that it was a long time since we beat Argentina and we’re delighted,” Zapata told reporters.
“We’ll enjoy this, it’s a great result but the tournament goes on and there are lot of difficult games to go.”
Both sets of supporters whipped up a lively atmosphere at a near-full Arena Fonte Nova, providing a much-needed boost for tournament organizers CONMEBOL after over 40,000 seats were left empty in Peru’s game with Venezuela earlier in the day.
The fans were struggling for anything to get excited about as the first half dragged on, however.
Colombia initially looked stronger but Argentina were a different beast when Rodrigo de Paul replaced Angel di Maria immediately after the interval and captain Lionel Messi was able to find space to cause some problems.
Messi wasted the best chance of the game before Martinez’s piledriver broke the deadlock when he skewed a rebound wide from close range, and the Barcelona forward also went on a thrilling solo run into the area but could not get a shot away.
Argentina face Paraguay in their second match in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.