Argentina beat Bolivia to win Group D
Argentina cruised to an easy 3-0 win versus Bolivia on Tuesday to secure top honours in Group D at the Copa America.
Argentina clinched first place in Group D at the 2016 Copa America with its 3-0 victory over Bolivia in Seattle on Tuesday.
It didn't even need Lionel Messi to do the damage, as he entered the game at the start of the second half when it was already 3-0 in Argentina's favor. Erik Lamela, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Victor Cuesta scored the three goals, but the final deficit didn't do the blowout justice. According to ESPN FC, Argentina tallied a borderline-ridiculous 86 percent of the possession in the straightforward victory.
Bolivia was already eliminated from advancement before the contest started, while Chile finished in second place in the group and will also move to the tournament's bracket portion alongside Argentina.
Messi didn't start Tuesday's contest largely because Argentina was tied with Chile with six points and comfortably ahead in goal differential (6-2) coming into the final group-stage game. Even without the superstar on the field, Argentina wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.
Bolivia's Edward Zenteno picked up a yellow card outside the penalty box, and Lamela's free kick found the back of the net after a deflection at the 13th minute, via Univision Deportes:
With Messi still on the sidelines, Argentina continued to dominate play and earned a third goal when Cuesta redirected Lavezzi's cross into the net at the 32nd minute. Matt Pentz of the Seattle Times said, "This is like the soccer version of a Globetrotters-Washington Generals game. Argentina with 82 percent of possession through half an hour."
Argentina took that 3-0 lead into halftime, and the only question was whether Messi would take the field. That question was quickly answered when he started the second half, much to the crowd's delight, as Major League Soccer illustrated:
With Messi leading the way, Argentina continued to press forward against the Bolivia defense. Although it didn't score in the first 20 minutes of the half, it won a handful of corner and free kicks, one of which Messi just narrowly missed as he targeted the upper 90 of the goal, via Univision Deportes:
