Chile: Gonzalo Higuain fired the only goal as Argentina marked Lionel Messi´s 100th appearance with an unconvincing 1-0 win over Jamaica to reach the Copa America quarter-finals as group winners Saturday.
Napoli striker Higuain, reportedly a transfer target for English giants Manchester United and Arsenal, struck in the 11th minute to ensure Argentina finished on top of Group B ahead of Paraguay and Uruguay.
But it was another patchy performance from the 2014 World Cup finalists, who made desperately hard work of breaking down a side ranked 65th in the world.
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino blamed weariness.
Argentina will now have nearly a week´s rest before the quarter-final, which will be against either Ecuador or the third-placed team in Group C.
The build-up to the match in Vina del Mar had been dominated by Messi, who took to the field wearing boots emblazoned with “100” as he brought up a century of caps.
(AFP)
