Argentina captain Lionel Messi expects United States will give his side a very difficult match in the semi-finals of the Copa America.
Messi set two goals up and scored another on his first start in this year s tournament as Argentina beat Venezuela 4-1 to book a last-four spot.
The Barcelona star has now drawn level with Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina s joint-record goalscorer on 54 strikes, but Messi is focusing on the semi-final.
It s important for what it means to be the top scorer because it s Bati, but what makes me happier is the team, the result, because we made it to the semis, Messi said.
I liked the personality of the team and that we always go out to be the protagonists.
The United States try to get close to you, to attack, they re a very difficult team. We have to do what we have been doing up until now. We are growing and that s the way we have to carry on.
Messi believes Argentina deserve more credit for their recent achievements, having reached the final of the 2014 World Cup and last year s Copa America showpiece, which they lost on penalties to Chile, who play Colombia in the second semi-final.
We don t give them the importance that we should because we didn t win, but it s not easy to reach two consecutive finals, he said.
What this team did has a lot of merit, although we all want to win. Now I hope we can reach a third final.
