With what appeared to be a right leg injury, Lionel Messi departed the game during the second half. Lautaro Martinez’s goal in extra time on Sunday night secured Argentina back-to-back Copa América titles as well as a win in a major competition for the third time in a row.
At Hard Rock Stadium, Martinez beat Colombia 1-0 in the 112th minute with his fifth goal of the competition. Martinez beat Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas with a shot across the goal from the right after breaking toward the Colombian goal.
Martinez’s goal was scored shortly after he joined the match in the 97th minute as one of Argentina’s three substitutions. Three of his five goals came after he replaced the game’s starter. His five goals at Copa América lead all scorers.
After normal ended in a 0-0 draw, Argentina was awarded an extra thirty minutes of play, during which they spent almost half of the match without Lionel Messi.
After collapsing to the ground while chasing the ball, Messi departed the game in the 65th minute. He seems to realize immediately that he was hurt. Nicolas Gonzalez was quickly ready to step in as the bench’s replacement.
Messi hobbled off the field, his right foot devoid of shoes, and promptly sagged into his bench seat. He started crying soon after he sat down, maybe realizing that Sunday night’s match might be his final big tournament participation for his own nation.
At the beginning of extra time, TV cameras focused on Messi’s swelling ankle, revealing to spectators at home the severity of the injury.
In the 117th minute, just after Martinez’s goal, Nicolas Otamendi replaced Angel Di Maria. After the game on Sunday, Di Maria, who was wearing an Argentina uniform for the last time, broke down in tears as well. Di Maria gave a beaming hug to Messi as soon as he arrived at the Argentina bench.
For the reigning World Cup champions, it marks their 16th Copa América triumph. The first significant tournament victory of the Messi era came in 2021 when Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 to win the competition.A year later, Argentina’s incredible career came to an end when they defeated France in the World Cup Final on penalty kicks—possibly the greatest soccer player of all time.
After the World Cup, Messi continued to play for his country and ended up playing Sunday night’s match in the same city where he presently plays club soccer for Inter Miami. However, he had a difficult time contributing much during his time on the field and was momentarily hurt during a tackle in the first half.
Although Argentina possessed the ball and had more shots in the end, Colombia had the upper hand throughout the most of the match.
In search of its second victory, Colombia made its third appearance in a Copa América final on Sunday night. In 1975, Colombia made its debut in the championship game but was defeated. In 2001, as the host nation, Colombia emerged victorious.
The game was ruined by security lapses and delayed.
After mayhem at the gates and on the Hard Rock Stadium concourses, kickoff was postponed for more than an hour. Fans flocked to the stadium gates hours before kickoff because there was no fence around the venue.
A lot of those fans didn’t appear to have tickets, which caused awful situations to break out around the stadium. Initially, the organizers of the tournament decided to bar entry for everyone. And then, just prior to beginning since it appears that the tickets were not scanned at all, the decision was made to open the gets to everyone.
North American soccer’s governing body, CONCACAF, made it apparent during the match that it had nothing to do with the tournament. South America’s governing organization, CONMEBOL, oversees Copa América.
FINAL score: Argentina 1-0 Colombia 112′ – Giovani Lo Celso assists Lautaro Martínez in scoring.
