Argentinian media left wowed by Alexis Mac Allister's performance as he outshines Lionel Messi

Alexis Mac Allister was at the fulcrum of Argentine moving into the Copa America semi-finals as they eked past Ecuador.

The World Cup holders required penalties to win the quarter-final tie following a 1-1 draw after extra-time - as they kept their dreams alive of retaining the trophy.

Argentina were far from their best yet got the job done. And Mac Allister was one of the star performers once again for La Selección. In the 36th minute, he flicked on Lionel Messi’s corner for Lisandro Martinez to open the scoring.

Then the Liverpool midfielder tucked home his penalty with aplomb, stepping up third and sending the Ecuador goalkeeper the wrong way.

And it’s fair to say that the Argentinian media were highly impressed with his performance. Several outlets gave him an 8/10 with only goalkeeper Emi Martinez generally outshining Mac Allister.

Infobae (8/10) said: “He was the thermometer of the team. In the first minutes, Argentina suffered because they could not find the ball and constantly lost the mark with Moisés Caicedo, who appeared strikingly very close to Enner Valencia in the Ecuadorian pressure. Slowly he found the rhythm of the game and thus the National Team approached its best moments. He anticipated with a header and assisted Lisandor Martínez in the goal. Of course, he converted one of the key penalties in the shootout.”

Clarin (8/10) commented: Clarity in handling the ball and reading each play, which led him to anticipate many times and start attacks. He headed the ball in at the near post, which then ended up inside the Ecuadorian goal after a header by Lisandro Martínez. He continued playing and also scored in the second half. He converted his penalty.

La Nacion (8/10) wrote: “Once again playing as a central midfielder, he relied on order, ball recovery and good distribution, being the midfielder with the greatest mobility in the back and forth movements. In Lisandro's goal he headed the ball when he went to look for the ball at the first post and added another assist in the tournament. He maintained his level in the second stage, with intelligence and without too much company in the midfield. He scored in the penalty shoot-out.”

ESPN gave Mac Allister a 7/10 rating and said: “Cleaned up a lot of mistakes from Argentina's midfield in the first half, and it was his flick from Messi's corner that set up the opener from Licha Martínez. Converted his penalty.”

Mac Allister could face Liverpool team-mate Luis Diaz in the semi-finals of the Copa America should Colombia defeat Panama in their quarter-final tie.