It's difficult to give a favourite between Argentina and Brazil- Lionel Messi

La Albiceleste will play the first semi-final against the hosts Brazil.

Argentina will now face Brazil in the first semi-final of the Copa America 2019 on Tuesday 2nd July after their quarter-final 2-0 win over Venezuela. La Albiceleste took the lead inside the first ten minutes and then scored again in the second half to double their lead and seal the win.

The two-time straight runner-ups had a group stage to forget where they could only beat the guest nation Qatar to qualify. And now they will face the hosts where Lionel Messi insists that there is no favourite and it will be a 50-50 for both Argentina and Brazil.

"It's difficult to give a favourite between Argentina and Brazil, even more so in this Copa America where anyone can beat anyone," said 32-year-old Barcelona star Messi ahead of Tuesday's semi-final in Belo Horizonte.

"We respect them, we know what Brazil represent."

Match Highlights: Venezuela 0-2 Argentina

The hosts, on the other hand, are not having a fairytale run. Despite of topping the group, they faced a stiff challenge in the quarter-final against Paraguay and adding to that, they are continuously being booed by fans for playing unattractive football.

"We're in good form to take on Brazil, but we'll have to be very focused," said five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi, who admitted he's not at his best. "I'm not having my best Copa America."

But as a team, Messi said their performance against Venezuela was "complete".

"Defensively we didn't have any problems and the team was very solid at all times. We didn't leave them any spaces when they went looking for them. We were very united and waited for the opportunities to counter quickly," said Messi to The National.

Forget Lionel Messi. Forget Sergio AgueroArgentina's main man in this years @CopaAmerica has been Lautaro Martinez. pic.twitter.com/iYZyixDCqP

— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) June 28, 2019

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

After Brazil's head coach Tite slammed the condition of the pitch in their quarterfinal, Lionel Messi too was of the same opinion.

"Honestly, the pitches are really difficult, they don't favour good football. The ball bounces in every direction, but it's the same for everyone," he said.