Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to the press following the team’s 3-0 win vs. Ecuador in the quarter finals of the Copa America.

Lionel Scaloni lived the game, as he usually does, in a very passionate and intense way. That’s how he was as a player and that’s how he is as a coach. We saw him constantly giving directions to his players, and also complaining repeatedly to the referee.

This is what the Argentina coach had to say in the post-game press conference:

“All the players gave their best until the last minute of the match and that, as a coach, fills me with pride. We are at a decisive stage, and we will try to move forward with work and humility.”

Regarding the substitutions:

“With the substitutions, we took the initiative again and refreshed the team a bit. Ecuador is a good team and that must be considered.”

He also commented on how tough the Copa America is:

“Anyone who believes that all games can be won easily is wrong. The matches are tough, they are played to the limit.”

“It is a very difficult Copa America; there is a good level. To reach the semifinals you must play to win all the games. We have gone step by step. In the end, one always wins, but we made it clear that the process is important.”

In addition, Scaloni praised Lionel Messi’s fantastic game:

“Leo’s game… I honestly don’t know if he’s ever going to get tired of being praised every day. The best thing that can happen for us football lovers is that he plays until he can, so we can continue enjoying him.

“Messi is enjoyed even by opponents when they play against him. We are talking about the best player of all time.”

Thinking on Tuesday’s semifinals game against Colombia, this is what Scaloni stated:

“We faced Colombia recently; they are a very difficult opponent, with top players. We hope to play with the same intensity, with the same enthusiasm.”

In addition to the man of the match Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás Gonzalez also spoke to the press after Argentina’s 3-0 win vs. Ecuador in the Copa America quarterfinals.

This is what the scorer of Argentina’s second goal, Lautaro Martínez, had to say:

“We saw a leading Argentina, that’s what the coach asks of us. Today we made a difference. It was a demanding game; they (Ecuador) are a physical team that runs and puts pressure.

“Despite the difficulties of the pitch conditions, we tried to do our best and leave a good image. Now we have to recover and think about Colombia. We faced them recently; they will be a tough opponent.

Lautaro also commented on Lionel Messi. Here’s what he had to say:

“We all follow Messi’s leadership. Today we saw again how he makes the difference and we are all accompanying him. We are happy and we are going for everything.”

This is what Nicolás González, who had a clear chance with a header in the first half and some misses in the second half, had to say after the match:

“We have to keep winning; it would be something very nice for our families and for the country. I will always try to do my best for the group. We are happy: we knew how to control the game and win.”

Nicolás, like Lautaro, also spoke about Messi and the team:

“Messi surprises us day by day; every time he gets stronger and he expands that to all of us. He gives us confidence and joy. We must continue on this path and enjoy him.

“We dream big, but we have to go match by match. We have our weapons to win.”

Lionel Messi scored once and assisted twice for Argentina in their 3-0 win vs. Ecuador as they are now in the semi finals.

Messi was as influential as ever for Argentina and an assist in the first half, another assist in the second and a goal in the second means he leads the Copa America with four goals and four assists. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:

“It was a very difficult match, we knew about the difficulty of the opponent. It was hard fought until we got the goal, then it got more tangled. The important thing is that we took one more step.

“We tried to play, at times we couldn’t, the pitch didn’t help much. We played a very important match. One of our objectives was to be among the top four best teams. Now we have to rest because there is little time until our next game.”

In regards to the Copa America and the team:

“I have always said: The individual awards are secondary, we are here for something else. I want to congratulate the group for the work they have been doing, it has been several days that we are away from our families. We have an objective and we are thinking about it.”

The Argentina eleven has been announced as Cristian Romero will is not part of the squad and German Pezzella starts in his place.

In addition to that change, Leandro Paredes is back in the eleven ahead of Guido Rodriguez while Nicolas Gonzalez starts on the left side. Here is the eleven:

Emi Martínez; Molina, Pezzella, Otamendi, Acuña; De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás González

The five players left out of the squad are Cristian Romero, Juan Musso, Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Domínguez and Julián Alvarez.