It remains to be seen whether Messi will continue to play for Argentina. “These are the last battles. We should enjoy everything we experience as a national team,” he said before the final. Messi will be 39 years old in the summer of 2026. After the final victory, he did not comment on the matter.
1,100 days after their first triumph at the Copa, Argentina won the South American championship again on Sunday (local time) in Miami with Messi on the bench from the 66th minute. “Leo was born to be on the football pitch,” said national coach Lionel Scaloni. “He never wants to go out because he doesn’t want to let his teammates down.” He had to do so against Colombia, and pictures of his badly swollen right ankle do not bode well.
Argentina wins Copa America
Argentina has won the Copa America. The “Albiceleste” crowned themselves record champions with their final victory against Colombia. However, the injury to superstar Lionel Messi and the great fan chaos surrounding the final in Miami are causing concern.
In Messi’s new adopted home, the eight-time world footballer crowned his unique career once again. Argentina won 1-0 in a final that was accompanied by worryingly chaotic conditions. The game could only kick off almost 90 minutes later because fans without tickets tried to get into the Hard Rock Stadium. The frightening images triggered security concerns with a view to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Messi’s own Copa story
For a long time, the Copa was something of a nightmare for Messi, and in 2016 he even announced his retirement from the national team after another failure in the final. What followed was his return and a World Cup to forget in 2018 in Russia, before Lionel Scaloni took over the team and led Argentina to its most successful era, with the absolute highlight of winning the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. “I don’t know if we have shaped an era, but the team always surprises. They overcome all difficulties,” said Scaloni.
After his seventh South American final, Messi lifted the huge trophy into the sky in Miami with the help of his long-time teammates Angel Di Maria in his last international match and Nicolas Otamendi. The only goal in a hard-fought match was scored by Lautaro Martinez in the 112th minute. “All for one,” wrote the broadcaster TyC Sports. “Without Messi, with drama,” said “Clarin.”
AP/Rebecca Blackwell Messi had to wait a long time for a Copa title, now the 35-year-old has triumphed twice
Even in Messi’s former adopted home of Spain, the scenes of Messi being treated like this on the bench quickly made the rounds, despite his own European Championship triumph in Berlin. “Messi’s incredible desolation: He collapses (…) and can’t stop crying even on the bench,” wrote the sports newspaper “Marca”. But by the time the final whistle blew, they were only tears of joy.
Messi and coach Scaloni hugged for a long time. No coach before the 46-year-old, who was in the squad with Messi as a player at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, had ever managed to let Messi develop so much in the national team. While FC Barcelona was always Messi’s place of football realization for many years, he really blossomed in the South American selection at the latest since his forced departure from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021. And he won the titles that seemed almost forever denied to him.
Party and death at the obelisk
The fact that he was now holding a major trophy in his hands again in Miami, where he has been playing for a year, fits in with the final dream career of this exceptional talent, who has now won a total of 45 titles at club and international level – also a superlative in world football. Together with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their three sons, Messi was already beaming again when the next memorable photo in his football album was taken, and the party really got going in the dressing room.
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Riots raise concerns for World Cup
And the next football fiesta was already taking place at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires. Thousands of fans celebrated the national team’s victory in the center of the Argentine capital. Some did not want to open the important Avenida 9 de Julio to rush hour traffic even in the early hours of the morning. The police finally used water cannon against them, as could be seen on television. A tragic accident occurred even before the game. A football fan climbed onto a planted advertising board for Buenos Aires next to the Obelisk and ended up falling from a height of six meters. The 29-year-old died, as “La Nacion” reported.
With 16 Copa titles, Argentina is now the record champion. World Cup record champion and arch-rival Brazil has been powerless against the superiority in sky blue and white for some time. And Messi has long since won the hearts of his compatriots after a years-long struggle for recognition since moving to Barcelona as a 13-year-old.
After Argentina’s World Cup victories in 1978 and 1986, he and Di Maria, who scored the goal to make it 1-0 in the 2021 Copa final against Brazil, crowned their golden generation by defending their title. Amid tears and cheers from fans, Di Maria was substituted at the end. “I am eternally grateful to this generation for giving everything and making me achieve what I wanted so much,” he said. “The ending was like in the movies,” Scaloni said.
Possible reunion between Messi and Yamal
The question of what will happen to Messi is likely to continue to preoccupy not only Argentine football. There was no diagnosis for his injury, which immediately reminded some Argentinians of Diego Maradona’s swollen ankle at the 1990 World Cup. But Messi could face a longer break for the time being.
AP/Joan Monfort If Messi continues to play for Argentina, there could be a reunion
But after 186 international matches and 109 goals, will he stick around for another two years until the World Cup to try to defend his title? If so, then two football generations would meet again next year. The date and venue for the Finalissima have not yet been decided, but the two teams have: Argentina and Spain after their European Championship triumph against England in Berlin on Sunday.
18 years after a photo shoot, Messi could meet Spanish shooting star Lamine Yamal from Messi’s favorite club FC Barcelona again. In 2007, Messi bathed Yamal as a baby during a photo shoot and lovingly held him wrapped in a blanket.
2024-07-15 18:00:46
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