MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi waved his arms. The trophy bounced into his hands. The tears of frustration that had been flowing an hour or so earlier turned to laughter and hugs for the two-time Copa America and World Cup champion.
Messi had to watch most of the second half and extra time with a leg injury. However, Argentina won the Copa America for the second time in a row, beating Colombia 1-0 on Sunday evening. Lautaro Martinez’s goal in the 112th minute.
“Lionel is the greatest player in history,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said through a translator. “He never wants to leave the pitch. He has a swollen ankle and he wants to keep playing. The best of these players. He wants to play not because he is arrogant or selfish. He wants to keep playing because he does not want to leave his teammates. … He was born to be on the pitch.”
Messi appears to have suffered a non-contact injury during Running and falling in the 64th minuteThe eight-time Ballon d’Or winner covered his face with his hands as he He sat on the seat and cried..
Martinez then ran to the bench to embrace his 37-year-old captain after the goal that propelled Argentina to a record 16th Copa America title.
After Messi appeared to limp after the final whistle blew just after midnight, he gestured to his older teammates to lift the trophy with him: Nicolas Otamendi, 36, and Angel Di Maria, who is retiring from the national team. As the white confetti fell, the three embraced each other.
“The truth is that it’s difficult to describe it. I wrote it like this. I told the players last night at dinner that I had a dream about it. That’s why I said it was my last Copa America. I dreamed that we reached the final and won the tournament so I could go out like this,” Di Maria said.
“I will always be grateful to this generation that gave me everything and helped me win what I always wanted and today I leave in this way. It couldn’t be better,” Di Maria said.
In a match that started an hour and 22 minutes late due to crowd trouble at Hard Rock Stadium, Argentina won their third major title in a row after the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup and drew with Spain, who won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup.
Argentina also ended Colombia’s 28-match unbeaten run, which began with a 1-0 loss to Argentina in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in February, also with a Martinez goal.
Martinez scored his first goal in the 97th minute of the match after a great pass from Giovani Lo Celso after Leandro Paredes had taken the ball away from a Colombian player. Paredes exchanged passes with Martinez, then passed the ball to Lo Celso, who passed it to Martinez, who sprinted past defender Carlos Cuesta.
Martinez ran towards the ball, touched it into the penalty area and shot it with his right foot through the arms of goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, scoring his 29th international goal and his fifth of the tournament.
Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo said several Colombian players finished the match with severe cramps. Temperatures were in the 80s with humidity around 73 percent.
“It’s not easy to play a final. It’s not easy for anyone. They played six games in 21 days and they started to feel the results. Everyone left the stadium feeling tired and exhausted,” Lorenzo said through a translator.
In his 39th and likely final appearance in the Copa America, Messi has scored one goal in the tournament. He went down in the 36th minute after His left ankle was injured by Santiago Arias. but He returned to the field after three minutes..
Messi looked at the bench as he fell to the ground in the second half, seemingly knowing his tournament was over. He took off his right boot as he left the pitch and stomped on it in frustration, his ankle appearing to be swollen. He stood by the bench with his bare right foot and raised his arms as his teammates ran on to the pitch when Martinez scored.
The start was delayed from 8pm EST to 9:22pm due to Crowd control issues Outside the stadium, including large numbers of fans breaching security gates at a venue that will be used for the 2026 World Cup.
Days after the departure of the Uruguayan players They were involved in a fight. Videos published by British newspapers showed Colombian fans, after their semi-final match in Charlotte, North Carolina, climbing over fences and railings to enter the final match, while officials were unable to track who had bought tickets and who had not.
Hard Rock Stadium released a statement after the game, saying the venue “takes pride in hosting world-class events year-round in a safe and successful manner.”
“We understand that there are frustrated ticket holders who have been unable to enter the stadium following the closure of its perimeter, and we will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address these individual concerns. Ultimately, nothing is more important than the health and safety of all guests and staff, and this will always remain our priority,” the statement read.
Colombia were more aggressive and forced goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez into four saves in the first half, but Argentina began to pose a greater threat in the second half.
Nicolas Tagliafico thought he had scored in the 75th minute but the goal was ruled out for offside. Vargas stopped Nicolas Gonzalez, who came on for Messi, in the 95th minute.
Several players lost their balance during the second half of Sunday’s match. The grass was heavily sprayed after Colombian pop star Shakira’s second-half performance, causing the half-time break to be extended.
The first half was extended from 15 minutes to about 25 minutes due to the performance.
Lorenzo was Overtime Critic Before the final, he pointed to the sanctions imposed on coaches for returning late to the pitch in the second half earlier in the tournament, and said on Sunday that continuity with the half-time rules would be best “to protect the fitness and physical ability of the players”.
Colombian James Rodriguez was named the tournament’s best player, with six assists.
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AP’s Copa America coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/Cuba-America
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