The Copa America Final was contested by two of South America’s powerhouses- Brazil and Argentina. Held at the famous Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, it promised to be a fiesty contest. In the end, Argentina won 1-0 courtesy of a Di Maria chip which was from a sublime Rodrigo de Paul pass. The hot topic after the final was about Messi winning his first international trophy, but here are 2 more talking points from the Copa America final:
ABSENT MESSI
Before the final, or even before a major international story, the narrative would always be Lionel Messi carrying the burden of the Argentina national team.
Whether it was his hattrick against Colombia to send Argentina to the 2018 World Cup, or his 9 goal contributions in 5 matches in this tournament, Messi nearly always delivers for Argentina.
However, today was probably one of his worst days wearing the blue and white-striped jersey. He wasn’t involved in much of Argentina’s play, and squandered a huge chance to double his nation’s lead in the dying moments of the match. However, this could be due to the fact that he was nursing a hamstring injury throughout the match.
However, this was the day that the narrative of Messi and Argentina turned on his head, as Argentina as a unit were sublime.
They didn’t play free-flowing, attacking football, but they stuck to their principles and had faith in Lionel Scaloni, who has proven to be a mircale worker thus far for Argentina.
The likes of Emiliano Martinez, who was a menace in goal, as well as the energy and stamina or Rodrigo de Paul in midfield, allowed Argentina to play as they would have liked to even with their star player staying quiet throughout the match. Di Maria’s antics can’t be forgotten as well, as he managed to calmly slot past Ederson to score the winning goal for La Albiceleste.
But ultimately, that all doesn’t matter, for Messi’s 16 years of hurt for Argentina is officially over.
BRAZILIAN BLUNDER
This wasn’t Brazil’s finest hour.
Other than Neymar constantly trying to give Brazil a chance, their attackers were sloppy and were mostly nullified by the Argentinian defence.
Their performance was summed up when Thiago Silva sloppily gave away a corner after a mispass.
Other than the 6 minutes of pressure in the early second half (where Richarlison scored a goal ruled out for offside), Brazil were sloppy and despite having more of the ball, they were unable to make full use of their possession.
Many fans have also questioned manager Tite, namely Fred starting over Fabinho as well as Richarlison, who hasn’t had the best of seasons, starting over Roberto Firmino, a big game player in 20/21, despite the two having similar goal contributions last season.
It’s been a letdown for Brazil fans and hopefully they can recover from this loss as they have experience at the back and an exciting, flamboyant and youthful attack.
FootballFanatic 