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4 months ago
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Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul was spotted giving Lionel Messi a pep talk after the Argentina captain missed his penalty in the Copa America quarter-final against Ecuador.
World champions Argentina required a penalty shootout to overcome Ecuador in Houston on Thurday.
Ecuador's Kevin Rodriguez had forced extra time with a stoppage time leveller after Lisandro Martinez had given Argentina the lead.
Messi stepped up first in the penalty shootout with neither side able to make the breakthrough during extra time.
The Argentina legend attempted a panenka penalty, but saw his effort clip the crossbar and drift over.
Lionel Messi saw his penalty in the shootout against Ecuador hit the crossbar and bounce over
A disappointed Messi trudged back towards his team-mates after missing the first penalty
Rodrigo De Paul approached Messi as he made his was back to the halfway line after the miss
A downbeat Messi trudged back to the halfway line to join his team-mates, with footage showing De Paul approaching the Argentina captain.
According to TYC Sports, De Paul quickly moved to reassure Messi, stating 'We are going to win it, we are going to win it.'
The Atletico Madrid midfielder's comment proved accurate with goalkeeper Emi Martinez coming to Messi's rescue.
Martinez saved Ecuador's first two penalties of the shootout, keeping out efforts from Angel Mena and Alan Minda.
His heroics saw the shootout swing in Argentina's favour, with Lionel Scaloni's side converting their remaining four spot kicks.
Julian Alvarez, Alexis Mac Allister and Gonzalo Montiel - the man who won Argentina the World Cup from the spot - converted their penalties.
Nicolas Otamendi scored Argentina's fifth penalty of the shootout to seal a 4-2 victory.
Messi admitted post-match he was 'very angry' to have missed his penalty, before revealing that shootout hero Martinez had been joking pre-match about the prospect of penalties.
'I was very angry because I was convinced to kick it like that. I had spoken to some teammates that I was going to do it,' Messi said.
Emiliano Martinez was Argentina's hero by saving two penalties to earn a semi-final place
'I knew that Dibu (Martínez) is always there in those moments, he becomes great. He is very fast. He had a lot of faith in himself.'
'Before the match, Dibu (Martínez) was joking that if there were penalties we should stay calm because he's there.'
'It's not nice to get to this stage (penalty shootout), but when we get there we have an advantage.'
Argentina will face either Canada or Venezuela in the semi-finals.
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