Lionel Messi scored three goals in a dazzling second-half display in his return from a back injury, and Argentina beat Panama 5-0 on Friday night to clinch a spot in the knockout round of the Copa America Centenario.<\/p>\n
Messi replaced Augusto Fernandez in the 61st minute, drawing a big ovation from a sea of No. 10 Argentina jersey wearing fans and the familiar colors of Barcelona, his club team.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, the five-time FIFA Player of the Year got right back to work.<\/p>\n
First, Roderick Miller\u2019s clearing attempt for Panama went off Gonzalo Higuain\u2019s hands as he went to protect his face and right to Messi, who took a couple dribbles and then beat Jaime Penedo on the ground to the goaltender\u2019s right side. T<\/p>\n
hen Messi sent a curling free kick into the top left corner of the goal in the 78th minute, making it 3-0 and drawing gasps from the crowd at the home of the NFL\u2019s Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
A left-footed chip past Penedo on the goaltender\u2019s right side finished off Messi\u2019s fourth international hat trick, joining friendlies against Switzerland and Brazil in 2012, and Guatemala in 2013.<\/p>\n
It also ran Messi\u2019s total to 53 international goals, just three away from Gabriel Batistuta\u2019s Argentina record. It was quite a return for Messi after he departed in the second half of a 1-0 victory against Honduras on May 27 with a back and rib injury.<\/p>\n
He also missed Argentina\u2019s 2-1 victory over Chile in the Copa opener, but manager Gerardo Martino said Thursday he was training with the team and was ready to go against Panama.<\/p>\n
Nicolas Otamendi also scored on a header off a curving free kick by Angel Di Maria in the seventh minute, and Sergio Aguero made it 5-0 in the 90th minute.<\/p>\n
A rare U.S. appearance for Messi attracted a crowd of 53,885, easily cruising past the attendance of 39,642 for the United States\u2019 4-0 victory against Costa Rica on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The fans chanted \u201cMessi! Messi!\u201d at a couple of points in the first half and cheered loudly whenever he was shown on the videoboard.<\/p>\n
In between a steady stream of first-half whistles and yellow cards, top-ranked Argentina showed off some of the fancy passing that makes it one of the favorites to take home South America\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n
Panama competed hard, but played with 10 men after Anibal Godoy received his second yellow in the 31st minute.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: ESPN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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