This was not the potential Copa America farewell that Lionel Messi had dreamed of.
With a little over an hour played in Miami, where he is tearing through MLS sides on a weekly basis, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was in tears as he trudged off with an apparent ankle injury.
The next Copa America is not until 2028; Messi will be beyond 40 – surely, this was his last appearance in the competition in which he has now played more games than any other player?
For Messi’s individual pain, though, there was national glory. Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2024, with Portugal crashing out in the quarters, Argentina have gone the distance and, for a third successive major tournament, come out as the top dogs. They beat Colombia 1-0 on Sunday and claimed a record-setting 16th Copa America title.
But if the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup were all about their magical number 10, this time around, Lautaro Martinez provided the spark.
Argentina 1-0 Colombia (AET)
Argentina never trailed in this tournament and are the first South American side to win continental titles around a World Cup for three straight major tournament trophies.#ARGCOL #CopaAmerica2024 pic.twitter.com/g4Ma3emp1o
— Opta Analyst US (@OptaAnalystUS) July 15, 2024
Martinez has not been a regular starter under Lionel Scaloni. He endured a difficult World Cup in Qatar on a personal level, failing to score from 14 shots and an accumulated xG of 1.81.
Yet in the United States, on the back of a fantastic season with Inter, Martinez has shown there is life after Messi for Argentina.
Despite having already scored four goals at the tournament to lead the Golden Boot race ahead of kick-off against Colombia, which was delayed by over an hour due to crowd trouble
