By Roger Gonzalez
Argentina won their first trophy since 1993 on Saturday, and Lionel Messi finally earned silverware with his national team as they beat Brazil 1-0 at the Maracana in the 2021 Copa America final. Angel Di Maria’s first-half goal was enough as Lionel Scaloni’s team ran through the tournament with impressive results with Messi led the way, validating his international career with a long-awaited trophy. Brazil, who struggled with consistency in front of goal for much of the tournament, had a nightmare in attack in a match that just never went their way.
Argentina finished the night with just six shots, putting two on frame, while Brazil had 13 shots but only put two of theirs on goal. The match featured 41 fouls that considerably slowed down the pace, adding to the frustration of the hosts, while Argentina were content with sitting back and defending their lead.
The winning goal came in the 22nd minute from Di Maria, who got free down the right after an error from Brazil right back Renan Lodi. A fine ball from Rodrigo de Paul really should have been settled by the defender, but he took a poor angle on it, and it fell right to Di Maria, who beat Ederson with a ridiculous chip. Take a look:
DI MARIA GIVES ARGENTINA THE LEAD 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/UnX9ao34ZP
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 11, 2021
Argentina didn’t have many great chances the rest of the way, while Brazil were able to infiltrate the box time and time again, but some inspiring performances from Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella and most of all Cristian Romero helped Argentina become the first team to hold Brazil scoreless since … Argentina in November of 2019.
As the match was nearing its end, the referee gave five minutes of added time, and when the final whistle blew, every player from Argentina sprinted to Messi, who was down on his knees in disbelief:
The moment Messi and Argentina won the Copa America 🙌 pic.twitter.com/UuOrhhfR1r
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 11, 2021
As you can imagine, he was the focal point of the post-match party on the field.
This is what it means 👏
Messi is being tossed by his Argentina teammates pic.twitter.com/6LR9aHxhBf
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 11, 2021
With the win, Messi answered the question — would he ever win a major trophy with Argentina? The answer was yes, with him as the best player, in an iconic stadium that for some will cement him as the greatest ever.
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