Lionel Messi singles out teammate as 'best in world' after Copa America blushes spared

Lionel Messi has expressed his gratitude toward Emiliano Martinez for his penalty-saving prowess in the 2024 Copa America quarterfinals against Ecuador.

Messi , who had a nerve-wracking moment in the soccer game when his attempted Panenka hit the crossbar, was relieved when Aston Villa's goalkeeper made a series of impressive saves that propelled Argentina into the next round.

"One more step... We suffered a lot against a tough opponent," Messi posted on Instagram on Friday. "We passed to the semis thanks to everyone's work and on top of that we have the best goalkeeper in the world. Go Argentina!"

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READ MORE: Lionel Messi must thank Emiliano Martinez for making more Argentina magic at Copa America

Argentina seemed poised for an easy transition into the last four with a 1-0 lead going into stoppage time. However, a header from Ecuador's Kevin Martinez found the bottom left corner, tying the game and giving his team a well-deserved equalizer - La Tri outshot the defending world champions 9-8 and controlled 49.3 per cent of possession.

According to Copa America rules, tournament matches proceed to penalties immediately after the 90 minutes of regulation, and Martinez quickly redeemed himself by blocking Ecuador's first penalty from Angel Mena.

Martinez was instrumental in steering La Albiceleste into the next round, with his left hand expertly denying Alan Minda and celebrating with a rollicking dance towards the Argentine fans. Both teams successfully converted their following five penalties, with Nicolas Otamendi sealing their place in the semifinals.

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"Dibu is always there, in these moments he becomes big. In the penalties we had a lot of faith, even before the match he joked that we should be calm if there were penalties," Messi opened up to reporters post-game. "He always has it in his mind."

This marks the second consecutive international tournament where Martinez has made waves with his phenomenal shootout performances, having previously guided Argentina past France in the 2022 World Cup final. He was key to taking the match to penalties with a crucial save against French striker Randal Kolo Muani, and later caused two missed attempts from Les Bleus thanks to his sharp reflexes and successful mind games.

"When it goes to penalties, it’s a different game," Martinez told GOAL . "It’s me against the striker, and me against the [other] goalie. Some people will never understand that, because they want the goalie to stand on the line and dive, and that’s it. But the players can jump, they can slow down, they can celebrate in your face, they can slide, they can dance. And we just have to pick the ball out of the net and throw it back to them? I don’t get it."