MIAMI, FL – Argentina is the champion of the 48th Copa America. The Albiceleste has won three consecutive major tournaments after the previous Copa America and the World Cup in Qatar. It thus equals Spain, which until now was the only team with three consecutive victories between 2008 and 2012. It also becomes the sole winner of the oldest international soccer tournament with 16 victories.
The match was intense and strange from before the players stepped onto the field at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. But the score did not change until Lautaro Martínez, in the second half of extra time, took advantage of a great through ball from Giovanni Lo Celso to pierce Colombia’s goal.
The final started more than an hour late due to the incidents that occurred at the entrance to the stadium in the hours leading up to it. Fans without tickets tried to sneak in – and many succeeded – by jumping over the turnstiles as soon as the gates opened at around 5:00 pm local time. Security then decided to close the fences surrounding the stadium and let the public in dribs and drabs. There were crowds, some fainting due to the heat and scuffles. At 8:00 pm, when the game should have started, the stands were still half empty.
An hour later they were already full. Too full. Those who had entered without a ticket were standing in the aisles of the stands and wherever they could. The police tried to remove some and emptied many of these aisles, although in some open areas with a view of the field – but without seats – many were allowed to remain standing.
The noise in the stands was deafening, even from the anthems. When Karol G sang the Colombian one, “La Bichota” could hardly be heard because two thirds of the stadium (there were two Colombians for every Albiceleste) shouted “Oh, unfading glory” at the top of their lungs.
The match was intense from the start, with Colombia dominating possession and attacking more frequently, but with the experienced Argentina also creating danger, from the first minute with a chance for Julián Álvarez, and shortly after with another for Lionel Messi. For the yellow team, it was Jhon Córdoba who created the best opportunity with a shot to the right post of Emiliano “El Dibu” Martínez’s goal.
With the score at 0-0, both teams went into halftime with plenty of time to rest. Shakira’s performance – who sang three songs in playback – extended the break to 26 minutes. It was good for some to recover from the heat -85 ºF- and the humidity of Miami.
The second half started with a Colombian attack down the right, which Santiago Arias finished off with a cross shot that went just to the right of the “Dibu” post. Shortly after, it was Davinson Sánchez who headed the ball over the crossbar from a corner.
But after those initial struggles in the second quarter, Argentina recovered and began to press, encouraged by its fans, who for a moment could be heard above the more numerous Colombians.
Minute 62: Messi’s tears
When Argentina was playing at its best, the number 10 was injured while running in defence behind a rival player. He fell to the ground with his hand on his thigh and had to be substituted. The shock was such that not even the Argentine fans cheered him on en masse when he left the field. It was already on the bench, with the star crying on the screens at the Hard Rock Stadium, when his fans cheered him once again with chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi”.
Just over 10 minutes later, Argentina would score… from an offside position.
In the 88th minute, another great chance for Argentina came with a header from Nicolás González, who had entered the field twenty minutes earlier, over Camilo Vargas’ crossbar.
Overtime without the stars
If Messi had previously been forced to leave the field due to injury, Colombia would start extra time without James Rodríguez, who was replaced by Juan Fernando Quintero.
Argentina then made a triple substitution to bring on Lautaro Martínez, Giovani Lo Celso and Leandro Paredes. The match picked up a pace and intensity greater than that seen in the 90 minutes of regulation time. The first half of extra time was a back-and-forth affair with continuous attacks on both goals.
But it was in the second half when Argentina, perhaps due to experience, perhaps due to resistance, managed to score through Martínez the goal that places this team among the most successful in history.
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