Messi pays his debt to Argentina with Copa America title

Rio De Janiero, Jul 11 (AP): Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in Copa America final to secure the national team’s first title in 28 years and the superstar’s first major international trophy.
When the match ended, a tearful Messi was thrown into the air by some of his joyous teammates.
Argentina’s winning goal at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro came in the 22nd minute after Rodrigo de Paul made a long pass to ngel di Maria. The 33-year-old veteran striker counted on some sloppy defending from left-back Renan Lodi to take control and lob it past goalkeeper Ederson.
It was only the third goal Brazil conceded in the tournament. Neymar tried hard with dribbles and passes, but the Selecao barely threatened Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. The team of coach Tite had won its previous five matches in the Copa America and scored goals in all of them.
Messi’s performance in the final was not as impressive as in previous matches of the tournament, during which he scored four goals and had five assists. He had a clear opportunity in the 88th minute, tried to dribble Ederson, but the Brazilian goalkeeper stopped him. The title, however, provides the superstar some relief after all the questions throughout his career on his effectiveness playing for the national team.

Di Maria recovers from finals drama with Copa America title

Buenos Aires: Angel Di Maria once admitted that he sought out a psychologist to help him deal with the trauma of his performance in finals. He overcame that stigma on Sunday with the goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final of the Copa America at the Maracana Stadium. “I can’t cry, I can’t fall, we dreamed so much of achieving this. So many people said I shouldn’t come back, I kept banging my head against the wall and today it happened,” the veteran winger said after the match in Rio de Janeiro. His goal gave Argentina its first major title in 28 years. Di Maria, captain Lionel Messi and striker Sergio Aguero are the sole survivors of the squad that lost the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil. They also experienced defeat against Chile in the deciders of Copa America in 2015 and 2016. “(Messi) said thank you’ and I said thank you’ to him. He told me it was going to be my final,” an emotional Di Maria said. “Soccer is like this, comebacks are like this and it had to be today.”

Messi and Luis Diaz end Copa America as top goal scorers

Rio de Janeiro: Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Colombia’s Luis D az finished Copa America as the top scorers in the tournament with four goals each. Messi did not score in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Brazil in the final, while the young striker Diaz led his team with two goals in the 3-2 win against Peru on Friday for the third place in the South American tournament. Messi scored his first goal in the tournament from a free kick in the 1-1 draw against Chile, Argentina’s first group stage match. The 34-year-old striker scored twice in the 4-1 win against Bolivia, one from the spot and another in a gentle lob past goalkeeper Carlos Lampe. He netted his fourth in another free kick in the 3-0 victory against Ecuador in the quarterfinals. Messi also had five assists in the tournament. The only Argentine goal at Copa America which did not involve him was the Angel di Maria’s in the final against Brazil. The 24-year-old Diaz, once a player of an Indigenous team in Colombia, made a big splash with beautiful goals in the South American tournament.