With a goal from Lautaro Martinez at minute 112, the Argentina national team beat its counterpart Colombia and reaffirmed his crown as king of the continent.
The now two-time Copa América champion took advantage of the fatigue of the Colombian defense in extra time and A stroke of genius from Giovani Lo Celso “killed” the Colombians, since he sent a pass from three quarters of the field to the “Toro” Martínez scored half a goal, beating the defense and putting the attacker one on one with goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, who after saving his team on several occasions, this time could do nothing to prevent the shot from hitting the net.
Colombia tried to equalize the score during the remaining 8 minutes; however, they did not arrive with enough clarity to force penalties and, after the final whistle of Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, the title was confirmed for Argentina, which meant the second championship after their crown in 2021.
It was a very intense match, with dangerous chances from both sides. From the first half of regular time, the excitement was palpable.
Colombia started better, handcuffing Argentina for almost the entire first inning; however was unable to reflect its dominance on the scoreboard. In the 7th minute, Jhon Córdoba had the 1-0 at his feet, but his shot hit the post and went out of the field over the goal line. Another important offensive play was made by Jefferson Lerma with a shot that “Dibu” Martínez managed to deflect with his fingertips.
In the second half, the albiceleste, by keeping the ball, cooled the momentum of the coffee growers and was close to opening the scoring with a shot from Angel Di Mariawho He played his last match with the national team and did so in a fairly dignified manner.although Camilo Vargas stole the glory from him by barely rejecting the shot he made while practically falling down.
Then came Messi’s injury, along with his inconsolable crying and, to add to the drama, a goal disallowed (and endorsed by the VAR) by Gonzalo Montiel.
The scoreboard did not change and extra time was reachedwhich began with an unexpected change ordered by Néstor Lorenzo: the James Rodriguez’s departurewho not only provided a great match, but an exceptional tournament. From then on there was only one team on the field until the Albiceleste scored the goal and gave the field to Colombia, who could not tie the game.
In the 116th minute, as a tribute, Lionel Scaloni replaced Angel Di Maria, who was dismissed from the match and from the Argentine national team by a huge ovation from the Argentine fans, who in a few seconds thanked him with their cheers for the 16 years he had dedicated to the national team.
Lionel Messi’s injury
The captain of the Albiceleste team left the field in the 65th minuteafter leaving due to injury replaced by Nicolas Gonzalez.
Messi suffered an injury in the 35th minute of the first half when he collided with Santiago Arias, who accidentally kicked him in the right foot, leaving him lying on the ground for several minutes.
Since then, “La Pulga” has not performed the same and it was in the 20th minute of the second half when he started running and threw himself to the ground asking for medical assistance.
The albiceleste specialists treated him, but he was unable to continue.
Instantly he came the episode that went viral on social mediawhere the idol is seen leaving the field and hitting the shoe he was holding in his hand against the grass, before sit on the bench and burst into tears.
After that, The Albiceleste squad showed pride and overcame the absence of their captainbecause he began to harass his rival, already physically weakened by the wear and tear they suffered, mainly, in the first half.
Argentina was growing in terms of football until the goal was inevitable and not even goalkeeper Vargas, who had a great night, could prevent it.
Lautaro Martínez, the tournament’s top scorer
Argentine striker Lautaro Martínez finished the 2024 Copa América in the United States as the tournament’s top scorer, with five goals, and joins the historic list of scorers in the world’s oldest international tournament.
Historically, the first goal was scored by Uruguayan José Piendibene against Chile in 1916, later the 1,000th goal was scored by Chilean Enrique Hormazábal in 1955 and the 2,000th was by Mexican Luis Hernández in 1997.
The 12-0 victory achieved by Argentina against Ecuador in the 1942 edition is the biggest win in the history of the tournament.
The top scorers are Argentine Norberto Méndez and Brazilian Zizinho, with seventeen goals, followed with fifteen goals by Lolo Fernández (Peru) and Severino Varela (Uruguay).
Keep reading:
Messi bursts into tears after leaving the Copa America final
· Ticketless fans try to sneak into the 2024 Copa America final in Miami
· Argentina says goodbye to Angel Di Maria as he retires from the national team
· Lionel Messi spoke again about the moment of his retirement from football: “It will be until when it has to be”