Argentina captain Lionel Messi admitted he is struggling at the Copa America as he and La Albiceleste look ahead to a marquee semifinal clash against tournament hosts Brazil.

"It is not my best Copa America, I am not having the one I had hoped," the Barcelona star said after Argentina's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Venezuela. "The important thing is that we won."

Striker Lautaro Martinez scored for the second game running to put Argentina in front in the 10th minute with a clever back-heeled finish, while substitute Giovani Lo Celso scored Argentina's badly-needed second goal in the 74th minute on a loose ball that squirmed through the hands of Venezuela goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.

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Messi has only scored once at the tournament in which Argentina have struggled offensively. They scraped into the last eight with a nervy 2-0 win over Qatar in their final group-stage game after losing to Colombia and drawing with Paraguay.

The six-time Pichichi Trophy winner added that he knew that Venezuela "were going to shut it down and look for the counter."

"We controlled the game from the beginning, the first goal came and from there we became ourselves," the man from Rosario said. "In the second half, we knew they were going to move forward and leave spaces. We were firm throughout the game, it was a complete game."

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni did not want to be drawn on Messi's poor display in the post-game news conference but said his presence alone is good for the team.

"Messi's contribution on the pitch is essential, if you could see what he gives us in the dressing room you'd think differently. I assure you it's great to have him here," Scaloni said.

When further pressed on Messi's poor form, Scaloni replied curtly: "All there is to say about Leo is he's the best in the world."

Friday's win at the Maracana marked the first time that Messi had played at the famed Rio de Janeiro stadium since the 2014 World Cup final loss to Germany. He blasted the condition of the field on Friday, calling it an "embarrassment."

"It doesn't help to play the ball fast and you always need some time because it doesn't roll well," Messi said. "In all the pitches, the ball appears to be like a rabbit, it bounces all over the place. It is how it is and we have to adapt."

With the victory of La Vinotinto, Argentina will now face eternal rivals Brazil for the first time in the tournament since the 2007 final, which they lost 3-0.

"We are happy to get to the semifinals. We have Brazil and it will be a tough opponent because they have great players. At a collective and individual level, they're strong plus they are the hosts. Today I believe we gave another step forward."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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SAN DIEGO -- St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna will be placed on the injured list after injuring the middle finger on his right hand Friday night against the San Diego Padres.

Ozuna suffered the injury when he dived back into first base while being picked off in the third inning. He had X-rays at the ballpark, but St. Louis manager Mike Schildt declined to say if he had a fracture.

"We're not committed to be able to say that at this point," Schildt said after the Cardinals' 3-1 loss. "Clearly it's significant enough where he's got to go on the IL."

Ozuna, who was replaced in left field by Yairo Munoz, is hitting .259 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs.

"It's a dent for sure," Schildt said. "He's a guy who's had an All-Star-caliber first half, for sure, in all facets of the game. ... We've got to figure out a way to replace him."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BALTIMORE -- It couldn't possibly happen.

I mean, there's no earthly way that the Baltimore Orioles, who are on pace to lose 116 games, could have more than one All-Star, right? After all, they're the worst team in baseball, and it's not particularly close. In fact, if you look through run-differential-colored glasses, they're on pace to be the worst team in the modern baseball history: Through 81 games, the O's are at minus-178 (and that's after a shocking 13-0 beatdown of the Cleveland Indians on Friday). If you multiply that by two, you get minus-356, which would break the record currently held by the 1932 Red Sox (minus-349). So how in the wide world of sports could a team like that possibly have multiple All-Stars?

John Means, that's how.

It has been widely accepted for weeks now that Trey Mancini, Baltimore's slugging outfielder/first baseman, would be the team's one and only representative at this year Midsummer Classic. Mancini, who finished a distant 15th among AL outfielders in the primary election (the top nine finishers had a run-off to determine the three OF starters), has been solid from the get-go this season. Entering Friday, his .904 OPS ranked third among American League outfielders, and his 1.6 WAR ranked eighth. Clearly, if you're mining for Orioles All-Stars, Mancini is the only logical choice.

Or is he?

On Friday against Cleveland, Means -- who missed his last start because of shoulder issues -- did what he has been doing all season long, keeping hitters off balance by mixing his low 90s fastball and good-not-great slider with a vastly improved changeup that has become a legit out pitch for the 26-year old rookie. The result was five shutout frames against a surging Indians squad that has been treating hurlers pretty rudely of late. But on Friday, the Tribe couldn't get anything going. In other words, it was business as usual for Means.

Including his outing against Cleveland, the left-hander has a crisp and clean 2.50 ERA that ranks third among American League starters. Well, it would rank third if Means had enough innings to qualify. But thanks to his recent injured list stint, plus the fact he spent the first couple of weeks of the season in the bullpen, he's about five innings short of qualifying. When it comes time for All-Star reserves (and pitchers) to be announced on Sunday evening, there's a good chance that Means' relatively light workload leaves him on the outside looking in.

"Does he have enough starts?" said manager Brandon Hyde when asked about his pitcher's All-Star credentials following Baltimore's win on Friday. "I mean, he's 7-4 with a 2.50. I haven't even seen his stat pack, so I don't know where he ranks. But I'm sure it's up there. I think if he would've started the year in the rotation, and maybe didn't get this last 10-day IL stint, I think he'd get a little more consideration. But I do feel like he's pitching like an All-Star pitcher. He's giving us All-Star starts."

In a world where skippers are constantly stumping for their own players to make the Midsummer Classic, Hyde's candid comments suggest that, in all likelihood, Means won't get the nod. It doesn't help that his FIP (fielding independent pitching) entering the Indians series stood at 4.09, suggesting that there's probably a bit of smoke and mirrors when it comes to Means' success in traditional stat categories like ERA.

It also doesn't help that, when it comes to the All-Star Game, prolific cellar dwellers like the Orioles don't typically find themselves flooded with extra invites. In fact, here's the complete list of teams that entered the All-Star break with a winning percentage below .300 but still managed to have multiple All-Stars (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau):

1935 St. Louis Browns (Rollie Hemsley, Sammy West)

1939 St. Louis Browns (Myril Hoag, George McQuinn)

The bad news, if you're John Means, is that it has been 80 years since a team as bad as the Birds had more than one All-Star. The good news is that the St. Louis Browns moved in 1954 and became ... the Baltimore Orioles. In other words, the O's franchise has a historical penchant for flooding All-Star rosters while being terrible.

The other good news is that pitchers, more than any other position, tend to bow out of the All-Star Game. Sometimes it's an injury thing. Other times, it's an "I just pitched on Sunday so thanks but no thanks" kind of thing. Last year, a total of six pitchers bagged on the Midsummer Classic, and six replacements took their spots. So it's entirely possible that even if Means' name doesn't get called on this Sunday's selection show, it still might get called in the week that follows. For what it's worth, Means isn't losing sleep over any of this.

"Being a major league All-Star didn't even cross my mind when I was starting the season," says the rookie who was never an All-Star in five minor league seasons. "I just try to go out there and get this team a win."

Standing in the locker room at Camden Yards and wearing an orange floppy hat that will be Saturday's giveaway, Means admits that the subject has come up in the clubhouse. That his teammates have been busting his chops a little bit about the possibility -- however remote it might be -- of him being an All-Star. Included among the chop-busters is the one Oriole who's practically a lock to go to Cleveland.

"Trey is every bit of an All-Star," Means says of Mancini. "That guy is having a really good season. He definitely is going, a hundred percent."

As for Means, he's just happy to be eligible.

"Beginning of the season, I didn't even think I was going to make the team," he says. "Just being up here and being able to pitch in the big leagues, it's really a dream come true."

The blow of having to miss this season is eased by the opportunity which awaits in 2020, insists injured heptathlete

Niamh Emerson says the disappointment of having to miss a big summer through injury is being eased by the thought of 2020 offering an even greater opportunity.

The world under-20 heptathlon champion underwent surgery on her knee at the beginning of this month after partially tearing her patella tendon while competing at the Hypomeeting in Götzis.

Emerson’s aim in Austria had been to achieve the heptathlon qualification mark for the IAAF World Championships in Doha but the 20-year-old was forced to withdraw during the high jump and has now refocused on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“Having to miss this year is really upsetting, but because there’s an even bigger year next year, that makes it a bit better,” says Emerson, who secured European indoor pentathlon silver behind her fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson in Glasgow in March.

“Because you can look forward to that and I can put everything into the Olympics, that is my ultimate goal. It’s kind of like I’ve sacrificed this (summer) for that.

“It’s very achievable to be fully back and get a full winter hopefully uninterrupted. That’s what’s keeping me going, really.”

Emerson, who also claimed Commonwealth bronze in Australia last year before winning her under-20 title in Finland in the summer, has suffered with knee problems in the past and says her surgery should also help to fix that.

“The operation I actually had was for my tendonitis over the past three years and the partial tear in my tendon, so I kind of got two operations done in one which makes me a little bit optimistic,” she explains.

“We kind of see it as… it’s not a blessing, it’s rubbish, but I did have this longstanding tendonitis which did need to get sorted and I’ve also had quite a few injuries so I think it’s my body saying slow down a bit. I’m still just 20, I had quite a few little niggles and I think I just need time for them to settle down. I can use this opportunity to do so.”

Emerson, who is studying psychology at Loughborough University, has also already been putting her time on the sidelines to good use.

“It has worked out quite well timing wise because as soon as I had my operation, my exams started,” says the second-year student. “I was bed-bound so it was no excuse, you have to revise!

“It actually worked out because it forced me to sit on my laptop and revise.”

Speaking with AW after the Hypomeeting, London 2012 Olympic champion and British record-holder Jessica Ennis-Hill said she was “devastated” for Emerson but the David Feeney-coached athlete says she has been inspired by seeing how Ennis-Hill achieved success after her own injury struggles.

“In 2012 I was only 13 so I didn’t really understand,” she says. “Now when you go through something where you have to miss quite a lot of time and it’s quite a big deal, it shows you how amazing her performance was and it puts it in perspective, what her performance actually meant.

“I think it’s really nice to see somebody you look up to has already done it. It’s quite inspiring.”

JOLIET, Ill. – One year ago, Brett Moffitt made headlines by winning at Chicagoland Speedway after barely securing a sponsor in time to make the trip to the 1.5-mile Illinois track.

Friday night, he made more headlines at Chicagoland by winning the Camping World 225 with an all-white, unsponsored No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado.

Moffitt used a lightning-quick pit stop to take the lead before the start of the final stage, then methodically drove away from Brandon Jones over the second half en route to his second NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win of the season.

The defending Truck Series champion led 72 of the final 77 laps, only surrendering the top spot when he made his final pit stop with 31 to go. Moffitt beat Jones to the checkered flag by 3.950 seconds.

“We had a really good Chevy Silverado tonight,” said Moffitt of his ninth career Truck Series win. “Everyone at GMS gave us a great truck and we went out and capitalized on it. Last year, my buddy Marcus from Fr8Auctions.com and we won the race for them, and this year we didn’t find a sponsor, but we went out and won the race anyway.

“It’s a shame, but hopefully this will draw some awareness to our situation and help us going forward.”

Friday night’s dominant performance followed up Moffitt’s win at his home track, Iowa Speedway, from two weeks earlier after Moffitt inherited the victory when Ross Chastain was disqualified.

This time, there was no question about who had the fastest truck on the property.

“We didn’t get to do all this before,” noted Moffitt as he celebrated in victory lane. “Tonight, we do.”

The final stage was only interrupted by caution once, when Spencer Davis washed up into Grant Enfinger exiting turn four at lap 79, causing both trucks to hit the outside wall and collecting Austin Self in the process.

Moffitt actually had a close call in that exchange, surviving contact with Self down the backstretch that damaged the right side of his truck just before Self was collected in the chaos that erupted off turn four.

“I thought our night was going to be over at that point,” admitted Moffitt. “I saw the 22 get outside of the 88, the 88 tried to block it … and once the 22 started spinning down the track, it was lucky he only got my door and not my right-rear tire.

“All in all, it was no harm, no foul and the truck stayed fast.”

Once racing resumed for good with 63 laps left, Moffitt shot to the lead with a push from polesitter Austin Hill and never looked back after that.

Though Jones stayed out two laps longer than Moffitt and tried to run him down after the final cycle of pit stops concluded with 25 to go, he had to settle for his fourth-career runner-up finish in his 43rd start.

“I think we just needed laps,” Jones lamented. “It’s heartbreaking to hear those lap times come across the radio, when they’re saying I’m a half-tenth to a tenth of a second faster, and just knowing that you have too big of a gap to overcome. I don’t know if we could have done something different with pit strategy, but that’s the most fun I’ve had in a Truck Series race in a long time. It was a blast tonight.”

Stewart Friesen finished third, ahead of the Toyota Tundras of Harrison Burton and Hill.

Todd Gilliland, Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Anthony Alfredo and Dylan Lupton completed the top 10.

Veteran guard Darren Collison has decided to retire from the NBA after 10 seasons primarily to concentrate on helping the less fortunate through his Jehovah's Witness faith, he told ESPN's The Undefeated in a written letter.

"While I still love basketball, I know there is something more important, which is my family and my faith," Collison said. "I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and my faith means everything to me. I receive so much joy from volunteering to help others and participate in a worldwide ministry. The joy I feel is unmatched. With that being said, I have decided to retire from the NBA."

The 31-year-old, who has made $43 million during his NBA career, was on target to secure a $10 to $12 million annual salary in free agency, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. But after long deliberation with agent Bill Duffy, Collison ultimately decided on retirement.

Collison averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists in 708 games through 10 seasons. The 2010 All-NBA rookie selection played for the New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers.

Collison thanked several former teammates and NBA stars who inspired him during his career.

"I'm also appreciative of that great friendships that I have earned from my teammates, coaches, and front office personnel that I will treasure for a lifetime," Collison wrote. "Players such as Victor Oladipo, Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James that had a major impact on me competing at the highest level. I either have a close relationship with those that I have mentioned or they inspired me to work harder."

Collison said in the letter that while he had done his best to help the less fortunate, he will now have the ability to do more in retirement. He also plans on spending more time in ministry in his Jehovah's Witness faith, which he says has made him a better person.

"Basketball has been my life since I was a child," Collison wrote Friday. "I could never imagine finding anything that brings me more joy than I get from playing the game.".

Collison strongly thanked Duffy for his years of services. His biggest expression of gratitude, however, was directed at his wife, Ketosha.

"She has guided our family through everything you could imagine during the many NBA seasons. From the amount of moves that we've made, the day-to-day challenges we faced and all the while dealt with the emotions of an up and down season. She is our strength," Collison said.