{"id":8015,"date":"2024-07-15T12:51:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T07:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/?p=8015"},"modified":"2024-07-15T12:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T07:51:12","slug":"argentina-wins-record-16th-copa-america-title-beats-colombia-1-0-after-messi-gets-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/sports\/argentina-wins-record-16th-copa-america-title-beats-colombia-1-0-after-messi-gets-hurt\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina wins record 16th Copa America title, beats Colombia 1-0 after Messi gets hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Lionel Messi pumped his arms. The trophy bounced up and down in his grasp. Tears of frustration from an hour or so earlier had turned to laughs and hugs for the two-time Copa America champion and World Cup winner.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi was forced to watch much of the second half and extra time because of a leg injury. Still, Argentina won its second straight Copa America championship, beating Colombia 1-0 Sunday night on\u00a0Lautaro Mart\u00ednez\u2019s 112th-minute goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeo is the greatest player in history,\u201d Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said through an interpreter. \u201cHe never wants to leave the pitch. He has a swollen ankle and wants to keep playing. I prefer those players. He wants to play not because he is egotistical or selfish. He wants to keep playing because he doesn\u2019t want to leave his teammates. … He was born to be on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi appeared to sustain a non-contact injury while\u00a0running and falling in the 64th minute. The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner covered his face with his hands as he\u00a0sat on the bench and sobbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mart\u00ednez later ran to that bench to hug his 37-year-old captain after the goal that propelled Argentina to its record 16th Copa title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing to be limping after the final whistle sounded well past midnight, Messi beckoned for his senior teammates to lift the trophy with him: 36-year-old Nicol\u00e1s Ottamendi and \u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda, who is retiring from the national team. As white confetti cascaded, the trio hugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth is, it\u2019s hard to describe,\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cIt was written like that. I told the guys last night at dinner that I dreamt it. That\u2019s why I said it was my last Copa America. I dreamt we made it to the final and we won it so I could go out this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be always grateful to this generation who gave me everything, helped me win what I always wanted and today, I am leaving like this,\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cIt could not be better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a match that started 1 hour, 22 minutes late because of crowd trouble at Hard Rock Stadium, Argentina won its third straight major title following the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup and matched Spain, which won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships around the 2010 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentina also stopped Colombia\u2019s 28-game unbeaten streak dating to a 1-0 loss to Albiceleste in a February 2022 World Cup qualifier, also on a Mart\u00ednez goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mart\u00ednez entered in the 97th minute Sunday and scored from Giovani Lo Celso\u2019s perfect pass after Leandro Paredes stripped the ball from a Colombian with a sliding tackle near the center stripe. Paredes exchanged passes with Mart\u00ednez, then threaded the ball to Lo Celso, who one-timed a through ball as Mart\u00ednez sprinted past defender Carlos Cuesta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mart\u00ednez ran onto the ball, took a touch that sent him into the penalty area and struck a right-foot shot through the upraised arms of sliding goalkeeper Camilo Vargas for his 29th international goal, his tournament-high fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombia coach N\u00e9stor Lorenzo said many Colombia players finished with severe cramping. Temperatures were in the upper 80s with humidity around 73%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not easy to play a final. It\u2019s not easy for anyone,\u201d Lorenzo said through an interpreter. \u201cThey played six matches in 21 days and started feeling the results. They all left feeling cramps, some of them in both legs. They all left the pitch feeling the wear down and the tiredness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making his 39th and possibly last Copa America appearance, Messi had one goal in the tournament. He went down in the 36th minute after\u00a0his left ankle was caught by Santiago Arias\u00a0but\u00a0walked back onto the field three minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi looked to the bench as soon as he fell to the field in the second half, appearing to know his tournament was over. He took off his right boot as he walked off and slammed it in frustration, and his ankle appeared to swell. With his right foot bare, he stood by the bench and raised his arms while teammates ran onto the field when Mart\u00ednez scored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start was delayed from 8 p.m. EDT to 9:22 p.m. because of\u00a0crowd control issues\u00a0outside the stadium, including troves of fans breaching security gates at a venue to be used for the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days after Uruguay players\u00a0were involved in a brawl\u00a0with Colombia fans following their semifinal match in Charlotte, North Carolina, video showed fans climbing fences and railings to get inside the championship match, with officials unable to keep track of who had purchased tickets and who didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard Rock Stadium released a statement after the game, saying the venue \u201ctakes pride in hosting world-class events year-round in a safe and successful manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand there are disappointed ticket holders who were not able to enter the stadium after the perimeter was closed,\u201d the statement said, \u201cand we will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address those individual concerns. Ultimately, there is nothing more important than the health and safety of all guests and staff, and that will always remain our priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombia was more aggressive and forced goalkeeper Emiliano Mart\u00ednez to make four saves in the first half, but Argentina began to threaten more in the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicol\u00e1s Tagliafico thought he scored in the 75th minute but was ruled offside. Nicol\u00e1s Gonz\u00e1lez, who replaced Messi. was stopped by Vargas in the 95th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous players lost their footing during the second half of Sunday\u2019s match. The grass was heavily watered with sprinklers following the halftime performance by Colombian pop star Shakira, which caused an extended halftime break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halftime was increased from the normal 15 minutes to around 25 minutes because of the performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorenzo was\u00a0critical of the extra time\u00a0before the final match, noting sanctions given to coaches for late second-half returns to the pitch earlier in the tournament. Sunday, he said continuity in halftime rules would be best to \u201csafeguard the fitness and physical aptitude of the players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombia\u2019s James Rodr\u00edguez was selected best player of the tournament, with six assists.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Lionel Messi pumped his arms. The trophy bounced up and down in his grasp. Tears of frustration from an hour or so earlier had turned to laughs and hugs for the two-time Copa America champion and World Cup winner. Messi was forced to watch much of the second half and […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":8017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}