Summary
Thunder Cup at the Maracana! Lionel Messi finally won his first title with Argentina by taming Neymar’s Brazil in the Copa America final (1-0), ending a 28-year shortage of his country.
The fifth was the right one: after four finals of major tournaments lost with the Albiceleste (Mondial-2014, Copa America 2007, 2015 and 2016), the six-fold Golden Ball finally lifted a trophy with the jersey of his country.
Carried in triumph by his teammates after the final whistle, Messi, 34, finished top scorer and passer in the tournament (4 goals and 5 assists).
But the hero of the final is called Angel Di Maria: the Paris SG player scored the Argentinian victory goal with a splendid lob after a bright opening from Rodrigo De Paul, also excellent at the Maracana.
“We dreamed about it so much, we fought so hard,” said Di Maria after the match.
Neymar, he did not know how to influence the match and burst into tears after the final whistle, before being comforted by a hug from Messi, his former teammate at FC Barcelona.
For Brazil, we are far from the trauma of the Maracanazo of 1950 against Uruguay or the humiliation of the 7-1 inflicted by Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, but this remains a cruel disillusion for the supporters. of the title, who had triumphed in the other five editions of the Copa played at home.
In Buenos Aires and across Argentina, the national team’s victory was greeted with tears and cries of joy, after 28 years of defeats for Argentina.
“Finally, finally! », Launched the Argentinian commentator of this match, Juan Pablo Varsky, in unison with millions of Argentines, released by the final whistle of the Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich, and several thousand of whom immediately took to the streets to celebrate this victory.
“It’s a huge title, especially for the people (…) I believe that they (the supporters) feel close to this team which has never given up,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni .
Tite’s men were unbeaten in official matches since the 2018 World Cup quarter-final against Belgium (1-2).
They had beaten their great Argentinian rivals in their last two encounters in the Copa América final (2004, 2007) and in the semi-final of the last edition, in 2019.
Argentina, who had not won a trophy since the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador, joined Uruguay at the top of the competition, with 15 trophies, keeping the Brazilians at bay (9).
For this gala match, the city hall of Rio had allowed the presence of a few thousand supporters, with a gauge of 10% at the Maracana for the climax of a competition in which all the previous matches had been played behind closed doors in due to the COVID-19 pandemic which killed more than 530,000 people in Brazil.
Come especially to Rio for the final, the president of Fifa Gianni Infantino was also of the party.
Tension palpable
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had decided to field a resolutely offensive team, with Di Maria, replacing in the last three matches, alongside Messi and Lautaro Martinez in attack.
Like any “superclassico” between the two sacred monsters of South American soccer, the tension was palpable from the kick-off.
The Seleçao began to impose a big pressing, with an aggressiveness quickly sanctioned by a yellow card for Fred from the third minute of play.
Neymar also wanted to immediately mark his territory, with a sombrero hit on his former PSG teammate Lo Celso at the center line (7th).
But after a choppy start to the match, with a large number of faults on both sides, the lightning came from Di Maria.
Well launched by De Paul on the right at the limit of offside, the Parisian winger took Renan Lodi speed before deceiving the goalkeeper Ederson with a beautiful lob (22nd).
This goal stunned Brazil somewhat and the Argentine waves continued to surge, with strikes from Di Maria (28th) and Messi (30th).
Tite tried everything for the whole while bringing in an additional striker at half-time, Firmino, in place of Fred and the Seleçao regained momentum.
Richarlison was refused a goal for offside (52nd) and ran into goalkeeper Martinez (53rd) after a nice opening from Neymar in the box.
Gabigol created two chances at the end of the match (82nd, 86th), but Argentina held on to triumph in the temple of Brazilian football.
Perfect center, Argentina takes the lead
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