Mexico 0
Chile 7 (Puch 16', 88', Vargas 44', 52', 57', 74', Sanchez 49')
Santa Clara, United States // Eduardo Vargas scored four goals as holders Chile sent Mexico spinning to a historic 7-0 defeat to reach the semi-finals of the Copa America Centenario here Saturday.
Hoffenheim forward Vargas completed a hat-trick in 13 devastating minutes either side of half-time to send Chile into a semi-final against Colombia in Chicago on Wednesday.
The drubbing was Mexico’s worst ever defeat in the finals of a major tournament. Their previous biggest loss was a 6-0 rout by West Germany at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
The rout was also only one goal away from equalling Mexico’s heaviest ever defeat in any international, an 8-0 thrashing by England in London in 1961.
Vargas grabbed his fourth goal in the 74th minute to give Chile a 6-0 lead.
Photo gallery: Former Al Wasl star Edson Puch and Chile send Mexico spinning out of Copa America
Copa America: News, analysis, results, fixtures and more
Vargas later dedicated his performance to his mother, who was earlier this week diagnosed with a heart problem in his homeland.
“I’m very happy with the performance, I dedicate it to my mum and my family,” Vargas said.
“We started this tournament badly but we’re getting stronger and stronger with every match,” he added.
But the punishment did not finish there with Edson Puch, who played at Al Wasl of the Arabian Gulf League rom 2011-14, adding a seventh in the 88th minute for his second of the match.
Chile, winners of last year’s Copa America on home soil, had faced an intimidating atmosphere in front of a crowd of 70,547 people at the Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
But despite the overwhelmingly pro-Mexico crowd, Chile were quicker to settle, with Puch opening the scoring on 16 minutes when he steered in a rebound from Marcelo Diaz’s shot after Guillermo Ochoa could only parry away.
Vargas grabbed a second a minute before half-time to stun the crowd into silence as the teams headed in for the break.
Chile then cut loose early in the second half with slick inter-play ripping apart a feeble Mexican defense at will.
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez made it 3-0 in the 49th minute before two more goals from Vargas in the 52nd and 57th minutes piled on the agony for Mexico.
Several Mexican players visibly wilted in the face of the onslaught, and for periods the game resembled a training exercise for Chile as they swept forward relentlessly.
Vargas’s fourth made it 6-0 on the night before Puch then toe-poked home to complete the scoring.
Brazilian referee Heber Lopes spared Mexico the possibility of greater humiliation, whistling for full-time almost on the stroke of 90 minutes, with no time added on.
Argentina 4 (Higuain 8', 28', Messi 60', Lamela 71')
Venezuela 1 (Rondon 70')
Foxborough, United States // Lionel Messi scored a record-equalling 54th international goal as Argentina outclassed Venezuela 4-1 to book their place in the semi-finals of the Copa America Centenario here Saturday.
The Barcelona superstar scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the 60th minute at the Gillette Stadium to equal Gabriel Batistuta’s long-time Argentina international goalscoring record.
Messi also created a goal for Gonzalo Higuain, who scored twice, and second half substitute Erik Lamela as Argentina set up a semi-final against the United States in Houston on Tuesday.
Afterwards Messi played down his goalscoring milestone.
“I’m happy for what it means and it’s nice to be next to ‘Batigol’ (Batistuta), but for me tonight the most important thing is the result,” Messi said.
Messi is determined to lead Argentina to their first trophy in 23 years after a series of agonizing near-misses which include defeats in the finals of last year’s Copa America and the 2014 World Cup final.
“I think people sometimes overlook that we got to two finals, and only focus on the fact that we lost,” Messi said.
“For us to be back in another semi-final of a big tournament like this one is a great achievement for these players.”
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