Tears in the eyes of Argentina fans in the stadium when Lionel Messi leaves the field after being injured. The player they were counting on to win the Copa America was leaving the field. Messi could not contain himself. He sat on the bench and cried. Just as he cried at the penalty shootout in the tiebreaker against Chile in the 2016 final. However, he had to leave with the burden of defeat on his head. This time Messi-less Argentina won. Lautaro Martinez wins Messi’s Argentina. Martinez has scored every time he has played in the current Copa. He did it once more.
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Interruption before the start of the game. Many spectators without tickets flocked to watch the match. They broke the barricade and entered the stadium. The security guards were unable to handle the situation. As a result, the gates of the stadium were closed. The game started 1 hour 20 minutes later than the scheduled time. Argentina attacked in the beginning. Angel Di Maria’s cross was picked up by Julian Alvares from inside the box. But he couldn’t keep it in the goal. Tagliafico entered the Colombia box in the next minute. He also could not open the mouth of the goal.
Colombia began to attack after handling the initial pressure. Speed and power, they were using two. James Rodríguez and Luis Diazeira were beating the pace of Argentine footballers. Colombia had a chance in the 6th minute. Cordoba hits a shot from outside the box. His shot went off the post. Colombia was attacking from the edge. The footballers were pressing for every ball. Argentina was trying to slow down the game a bit. But could not. When Messi and Di Maria caught the ball, two or three Colombian footballers were surrounding them. As a result, the ball was going out.
The first 20 minutes did not see Messi like that. After 20 minutes, Argentina brought out the team attack for the first time. Messi shot into the box. However, it was blocked by the joint efforts of the defender and the goalkeeper. Colombia created a few more chances after 30 minutes. Beating Emiliano Martinez under the Argentinian goal was not easy. Messi looked like he was not 100 percent healthy. Meanwhile, Messi was injured while taking a shot in the 36th minute. He read for some time. Later, Messi was a little limp even when he came back to the field. He was trying to play to save himself. Colombian footballers were fouling at times. As a result, the pace of the game was stopping. There were no more goals for the rest of the first half. Both teams went into the break with no goals.
Colombia continued to play with the same plan from the beginning of the second half. That pressing football. However, in the second half, Argentina’s style of play changed a bit. They also try to play faster. Argentina was lagging behind the physical ability of Colombian footballers. After 53 minutes, Davidson Sanchez got a chance to head from the corner. But he could not keep the ball in the goal.
Argentina tried to get back into the game under pressure. Di Maria was active along the left flank. He quickly launched a few attacks. At the end of 58 minutes, Di Maria shot into the box with a single skill. Good save by the goalkeeper. Colombia were fouling whenever Argentina went on the attack. They were playing football in the market. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni could not keep his head cool. He got angry standing on the sideline. The assistants were struggling to handle him.
Argentina suffered a big blow after 64 minutes. He did not look good in the second half after recovering from the injury in the first half. He fell on his own while pulling a sprint. It was understood that the hamstring was injured. He could not run the game anymore. Messi leaves the field. He could not control himself sitting on the bench. First threw one shoe. Messi covered his face with his hands and was crying. It was understood that the pain of not being able to play in the final was rolling down his eyes. Argentina supporters were also seen crying after Messi got up.
As the game progressed, the excitement grew. Colombia was breaking Argentina’s rhythm by playing sloppy football. Nico Gonzales, who came on as Messi’s replacement, scored in the 75th minute. But that goal was disallowed for offside. After 87 minutes, Argentina got another chance. There was no goal this time either. The game was slowly moving towards a tiebreaker.
That’s when substitute Lautaro Martinez showed his magic. He has repeatedly become the savior of Argentina in this Copa. One more time. At the end of the 112th minute, Lautaro scored after Lo Celso’s pass into the box and beat the goalkeeper. After that, run straight to Messi and hug him. Messi seemed to have regained his life.
More fighting ensued for the rest of the game. Colombian footballers were using physical strength to score goals. It did not work. Argentina left the field winning the Copa with Lautaro’s only goal.
