Argentina wins Copa América 2024
Miami, US, Jul 14 (EFE).-
Argentina won their 16th Copa America title in Miami on Sunday after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Colombia thanks to a goal from Lautaro Martinez in the 112th minute.
On their way to the historic treble, which included the World Cup sandwiched between two Copa America titles, La Albiceleste had to overcome the serious injury of Lionel Messi, who was forced to leave the field in pain in the 65th minute.
But the rest of the Argentine players gave their heart and soul, and sometimes also their blood, to deny Colombia, the better of the two teams in the opening half after a delayed start to the game due to crowd trouble.
Jhon Cordoba was denied by post in the seventh minute, and Emiliano Martinez stopped Jefferson Lerma from scoring in the 34th minute, which helped Argentina keep the score 0-0 in the first half.
The half-time was extended to 26 minutes due to Colombian singer Shakira’s performance, but it did not distract her fellow countrymen from continuing to seize the initiative.
Aviso Arias issued a warning with a cross-shot before Davinson Sanchez headed an attempt at goal to leave Argentina shaking.
Things turned from bad to worse for Argentina when Messi, who received a knock on his ankle in the first half, fell to the ground after the hour mark and asked for a change, sending a shockwave through the Argentine camp.
It wasn’t until a couple of minutes later that the stadium began chanting his name after the video scoreboard showed the captain in tears on the bench.
To add to their agony, Gonzalo Montiel also fell onto the pitch and asked for a change soon after a goal by Nicolas Gonzalez was disallowed due to an offside from Nicolas Tagliafico in the build-up.
The entry of the Fiorentina striker, however, added some flair to the Argentine attack, although a goal did not appear on the horizon until Martinez broke free in extra time to beat the Colombian goalkeeper and take his team to victory. EFE
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