SANTIAGO: Argentina marked Lionel Messi’s 100th cap with an unconvincing 1-0 win over Jamaica to reach the Copa America quarter-finals as group winners on Saturday as holders Uruguay advanced to the last eight.

Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain rifled home the only goal for Argentina as the tournament favourites downed the Reggae Boyz in Vina del Mar to clinch top spot in Group ‘B’ ahead of Paraguay and Uruguay.

Argentina finished on seven points, two points more than Paraguay, who earlier in the day drew Uruguay 1-1 in La Serena. Defending champions Uruguay ended with four points but advanced as one of the best-two third-place finishers.

Jamaica, eliminated before the match began, finished the tournament with zero points and no goals scored as they headed home from the tournament after three consecutive 1-0 defeats.

Argentina looked set for a goal-feast but despite dominating possession could not add to their tally after Higuain collected a pass from Angel di Maria in the 11th minute and turned his marker in the box before firing a low shot past Dwayne Miller in the Jamaican goal.

Argentina coach Gerardo Martino blamed weariness for his side’s disjointed performance, and said his side were looking forward to some rest in the six-day break before next Friday’s quarter-final.

“The first half was okay. We played fine and we scored quickly and created five or six chances to score,” Martino said. “At the end though it was a bit tedious but we did what was necessary. Physically we struggled a bit in the second half.”

By finishing first in the group, Argentina will get to play the quarter-final against the second-best third-place finisher in all three groups.

Argentina are trying to end a 22-year title drought. They haven’t won a significant trophy since the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador, when Messi was only six years old.

“We reached the first goal, which was to advance in first place,” Messi said. “We played a great first half and we could’ve scored more, but in the second we didn’t have the same intensity, everything was slower. In the knockout matches we can’t let that happen.”

Jamaica’s players meanwhile celebrated a brave performance against one of the powerhouses of international football.

LA SERENA: Uruguay’s Edinson Cavani (second L) vies for the ball with Paraguay’s Marcos Caceres during their Copa America match.—AFP

At the final whistle, striker Deshorn Brown posed for a selfie with Argentina skipper Messi, who was unable to mark his century of caps with a goal.

The Barcelona superstar meanwhile was happy to swap the jersey from his 100th international appearance with Jamaican midfielder Jobi McAnuff, who plays in the fourth tier of the English football league system.

Jamaica captain Rodolph Austin said he was proud of his team’s performances in Chile, as they headed home from the tournament after three consecutive 1-0 defeats in the first round.

Earlier on Saturday, Uruguay made sure of their place in the last eight after battling to a draw with Paraguay in a rematch of the 2011 final.

Uruguay secured the point they needed to advance after taking the lead through Jose Maria Gimenez before Paraguay equalised on the stroke of half-time with a goal from Lucas Barrios.

Paraguay were already guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds after results elsewhere on Friday, when Ecuador’s win over Mexico in Group ‘A’ ensured they would qualify.

Uruguay took the lead after 29 minutes through Gimenez, who rose high to meet a corner from Carlos Sanchez with a powerful downward header. But Paraguay hit back shortly before half-time with a set-piece goal of their own, Barrios heading home Edgar Benitez’s corner.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2015

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