Argentina’s final tune-up before beginning their Copa America title defense started with a whimper but ended with a bang as a vintage Lionel Messi performance saw them top Guatemala 4-1 in a friendly at Commanders Field outside the U.S. capital on Friday.
Guatemala forced a Lisandro Martinez own-goal inside the opening five minutes to shockingly go in front and out-played the world’s top-ranked side for the first 25 minutes, but eventually Messi and the World Cup champions established dominance and ran away with the match.
Messi doesn’t need any gifts but got one anyway as Guatemala goalkeeper Nicolas Hagen produced a hideous possessional error, passing it right to the Argentine great eight yards from goal for the equalizer.
Despite that, it still took Argentina time to wrestle control of the match, but they would do so before halftime as Lautaro Martinez hit from the penalty spot to take the lead at the break.
From there, Argentina were well and truly on their way to the Copa America, as the second half was all Albiceleste, with Lautaro finding a second before Messi did the same. Argentina will play the opening match of the competition as they raise the curtain on the tournament against Canada in Atlanta on Thursday.
