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• Balance key for Argentina as Martinez states his case with Chile winner

  Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni will prioritise balance throughout the Copa America, with Lautaro Martinez pushing for a start after scoring twice from the bench.

  Having come on to add Argentina's second goal in a 2-0 win over Canada last week, Martinez struck an 88th-minute winner in Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Chile.

  Martinez's three competitive goals off the bench for Argentina are more than any other player has managed for the team since his international debut in 2018.

  The Inter man's impact has led to suggestions he could edge out Julian Alvarez to start alongside Lionel Messi, but Scaloni will select his number nine on a game-by-game basis.

  "Lautaro and Julian have played together," Scaloni said. "There's always the need for balance. 

  "Lautaro is very happy today, and Julian is too. I will always choose the one that I think is best suited for that match.

  "Today Julian played, but we have 11 players. We have to balance the gameplan.

  "Sometimes there might be a disruption of that balance for any reason, but usually, I like playing with a good structure. We will be making choices throughout the tournament."

  Argentina have secured their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare and will top Group A if they avoid defeat against Peru on Saturday.

  Despite overseeing a perfect start to the Albiceleste's title defence, Scaloni has been questioned for not calling upon Alejandro Garnacho, who has been an unused substitute in both matches after enjoying a breakout campaign with Manchester United.

  "We would love to see him because he is young and he is a fresh player," Scaloni said of the winger. 

  "Sometimes we think that given the match, we could send him in. But then as the match evolves, we think maybe it is not the right match.

  "Hopefully when we give the young players the opportunity, they will be able to seize it."

• Chile 0-1 Argentina: Super sub Martinez sends Albiceleste to Copa America quarter-finals

  Lautaro Martinez struck a late winner as Argentina beat Chile 1-0 to secure their place in the Copa America knockout stages with a game to spare.

  The reigning champions looked like they would have to settle for a point on a frustrating night at the MetLife Stadium, having failed to turn their superiority into the game's opening goal.

  But substitute Martinez, who also netted from the bench in his nation's opener against Canada, finally broke Chile's resolve when he lashed home two minutes from time.

  It moved Lionel Scaloni's side onto six points at the Group A summit, three points ahead of Canada, who beat Peru 1-0 earlier in the day. A draw against Peru in their final game will now be enough to secure top spot.

  Argentina dominated the first half with 13 unanswered shots, yet just three of those were on target. One of them saw Julian Alvarez fire straight at Claudio Bravo from close range in the 22nd minute.

  Lionel Messi also went close to scoring in the 36th minute. La Albiceleste's skipper let fly with a fizzing 25-yard attempt that clipped the outside of Bravo's left post, while Erick Pulgar almost turned Nahuel Molina's cross beyond the Chile goalkeeper two minutes later.

  La Roja had Bravo to thank for keeping Argentina at bay, as the reigning champions continued to carry the greater attacking threat after the break.

  The veteran stopper beat away Molina's fierce strike within five minutes of the restart, and just after the hour mark, he produced a superb reflex save to tip Nicolas Gonzalez's drive onto the crossbar.

  With the breakthrough still eluding the world champions, Scaloni bolstered his attack by introducing Angel Di Maria and Martinez for the final 17 minutes.

  Chile had increased their own attacking threat by registering their first attempts on goal in the contest, with Rodrigo Echeverria calling Emiliano Martinez into action on both occasions.

  Yet, there was to be a late twist in Argentina's favour when an 88th-minute corner broke kindly for Martinez, who reacted quickest to fire into the roof of the net and send La Albiceleste through to the quarter-finals.

  Persistence pays dividends for Argentina

  The history books would have suggested Argentina should have fancied their chances against Chile.

  This is epitomised by the fact they are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in the last 13 meetings, winning eight of those, but that does not tell the full story.

  Seven of those eight victories have only been by a single-goal margin and, of course, they lost on penalties in the Copa America final showdowns of 2015 and 2016.

  Though they dominated most of this contest and registered 22 shots to their opponents' three, just the one goal was enough once more, with both of Martinez's strikes from the bench in this competition coming in the 88th minute.

  Argentina progress to the Copa America knockout stages for a 14th consecutive time, excluding when they withdrew from the 2001 tournament.

  Toothless Roja see resistance broken

  Chile looked set to frustrate Argentina once again at the Copa America and hold out for a second successive clean sheet.

  Their defensive resolve - along with an inspired performance by Bravo between the sticks - looked like it would remain firm and keep the reigning champions at bay, until Martinez's late intervention.

  What will be more concerning for La Roja is the fact they have now gone four successive Copa America matches without scoring, while having to wait until the 72nd minute for their first attempt on goal.

  That is something they need to address quickly ahead of their crucial final Group A clash with Canada, in which a victory could still see them snatch second place and a quarter-final spot.

• Scotland denied '100% penalty' against Hungary, says Clarke

  Scotland head coach Steve Clarke was adamant his side should have been awarded a penalty as their Euro 2024 campaign ended with a 1-0 defeat to Hungary in Stuttgart. 

  Kevin Csoboth scored the winning goal in the 10th minute of injury-time to put Scotland out of another major tournament in the group stages. 

  However, things could have been much different for Clarke's side.

  Stuart Armstrong looked to have skipped beyond Hungary's Willi Orban in the 80th minute, before the RB Leipzig defender grappled across the midfielder, with both tumbling inside the area. 

  Referee Facundo Tello waved away Scotland's appeals, and a subsequent check by VAR deemed the challenge not worthy of awarding a spot-kick. 

  “It was 100% a penalty," Clarke said. "Somebody, somewhere has to explain to me why that's not a penalty. It’s a one goal game, we get the penalty and it could have been a different night.

  “I've got other words, but I'm not going to use them. I don't understand how VAR can look at that and say it's not a penalty.

  “In a European competition, it may have been better to have a European referee but we had European VAR and maybe a referee didn't see the challenge clearly on the pitch, so what's the purpose of VAR if they are not going to come in on something like that. It was a penalty.”

  Having qualified for successive European Championships, this was Scotland’s 12th major tournament group stage, and in 50% of those they have failed to win a single match – at the 1954, 1958, 1986, and 1998 World Cups and EURO 2020 and 2024.

  “We gave everything, there’s nothing you can fault there. It was a very tough game against a good opponent," said Clarke. "A very close game that was always going to be decided by the first goal. You could tell that after half an hour.

  “Unfortunately for us when we opened up towards the end of the game to try and chase the winner, that we felt we needed to get to the next stage, we got caught on the counter.”