Emiliano Martinez has come up trumps for Argentina again, pulling off two saves in a dramatic penalty shoot-out with Ecuador, to send the defending champions through to the semi-finals. Join us again on Tribe tomorrow for live commentary of the second quarter-final at this Copa America between Venezuela and Canada. It's been a pleasure bringing you all the action from this dramatic evening in Houston. For now, Harrison Ryburn signing out.

The quarter-final curse for Ecuador extends, and it's now been over twenty years since they last reached the last four at a Copa America. Felix Sanchez's side were heavy underdogs in Houston tonight, but captalised on Argentina's inaccuracies and executed a strong gameplan to push their opponents all the way. They looked organised and disciplined in defence from the off, and that gave them the confidence to strike on the counter-attack through. The pace of the transition is what really what caught out the Argentine defence, with Valencia and Caicedo also bringing plenty of speed up top. That kept their opponents on their feet, and they should have had a goal a lot earlier than injury-time, with Valencia missing a penalty, and Preciado and Sarmiento missing big chances in the first half. Sanchez's side just couldn't hold their nerve in the shoot-out though, as the brilliance of Martinez came to the fore, denying them one of the greatest Copa America upsets of recent times.

Few would have seen that sort of contest coming for Argentina this evening, but it was mostly brought about their own doing. Lionel Scaloni's men were off the paces from start to finish, and a long way off the usual high standards they hold themselves too. They were wasteful with possession and struggled to control the tempo of the match, something that came so easy for them during the group stages. There was also a lack of cutting edge or creativity in attack too, struggling to create chances, and only muscling up two shots at target across the entire ninety minutes. The defending champions were left rattled at times as such, and were caught out by the pace of the Ecuadorian counter-attack at the back. Ultimately the gloves of Emi Martinez have single-handedly kept their campaign alive, and Argentinean fans again have him to thank for their performances at a major tournament.

Fulltime in Houston and Argentina have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa America with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Ecuador. The world and defending South American champions weren't at the races today, but opened the scoring through Lisandro Martinez just before halftime. It looked as if Ecuador weren't going to have an answer after Enner Valencia struck the left post with a penalty, but Kevin Rodriguez turned the contest on it's head with an injury-time header to send it to penalties. Just as he did in the 2022 World Cup final though, Emi Martinez again showed why he is one of the best keepers to do it for Argentina, pulling off two saves in the shoot-out to save the day for Lionel Scaloni's men. A date with either Venezuela or Canada now awaits in the Copa America semi-finals in New York.

OTAMENDI WINS IT! The defender drives his penalty inside the bottom-right corner of the net to win it for Argentina. Dominguez went the right way again, but he couldn't keep it out and the defending champions scrape through into the final four. Ecuador fall short at this stage once more.

Caicedo goes straight down the middle and his effort flies narrowly over the top of the diving legs of Martinez to keep Ecuador clinging on.

Montiel scored the winning penalty in the World Cup final shoot-out, and extends Argentina's advantage in this one with a calm finish into the bottom-right corner.