“I am aware that these are the last few battles, and that is why I am enjoying it very much, Let’s enjoy everything that we are living and enjoying as a national team. It is not easy to get to another final”.
These were the cold words of Lionel Messi after propelling Argentina to the Copa America final. Could this be his last Copa America tournament? Possibly yes, and perhaps no.
Argentina, the reigning World Champions, secured a spot in the Copa America final after a convincing 2-0 victory over Canada in the semi-finals at Metlife Stadium in the USA on Tuesday night. The legendary Lionel Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, scored his maiden goal of the 2024 Copa America, which also marked his 14th goal in the tournament’s history, spearheading the defending champions to another final appearance.
Manchester City attacker Julian Alvarez opened the scoring for La Albiceleste in the 22nd minute with a well-placed goal, assisted by Rodrigo De Paul, after skillfully maneuvering past two Canadian defenders. Argentina, 15-time Copa America champions, have reached the finals six times in eight appearances.
Before the game against Canada, Canada had succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Argentina in the opening game of the Copa America, in which Messi failed to score. Just 6 minutes into the second half, Lionel Messi was the last to touch the ball, which went straight into the Canadian net after a shot from Enzo Fernandez. Relieve for Messi as he grabbed his first goal of the 2024 Copa America.
Canada, on the other hand, had quite some decent chances to at least score a goal, but all their efforts were to no avail. First was a 42nd-minute strike by Jonathan David, but Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pulled a fine save to deny the Les Rouges a goal.
Secondly, a good chance by Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi was once again denied by Emiliano Martinez, which kept the Canadian team in shock and disbelief.
Records by Messi after Scoring against Canada
After scoring against Canada, Lionel Messi has now exceeded former Iran forward Ali Daei’s 108 goal tally to notch his 109th international goal for Argentina, with only Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (130) ahead of him.
Lionel Messi has become the first Argentine player to play in seven editions of the Copa America tournament since making his debut in 2007 in Venezuela. Only Angel Romano of Uruguay and Alex Aguinaga of Ecuador have played in more Copa America tournaments than him (8 appearances each).
Argentine will face the winner of the game between Uruguay and Columbia as they stage an epic final on Sunday in Miami.
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Story by: David Kwaku Dzaku| univers.ug.edu.gh
