A last-minute goal and Argentina made history again!
The Albiceleste beat Colombia 1-0 in the final of the continental championship with a goal from Lautaro Martínez in the second half of extra time.
The victory takes Lionel Messi’s team to become the most successful Copa América winners, with 16 titles , one more than Uruguay.
And the cup is also historic for this team, which has won the last four finals it has played: Copa América 2021, Finalissima 2022, World Cup 2022 and Copa América 2024.
The only goal of the match came in the 112th minute in a spectacular triangulation from the centre of the field that Giovani Lo Celso passed to Toro Martínez, who with a powerful shot knocked out the Colombian goalkeeper.
Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, which experienced moments of chaos before the start of the game due to the entry of fans without tickets, exploded for an Albiceleste team accustomed to winning.
In regular time, Colombia generated the most dangerous actions in the first half, while Argentina could have won it in the second half.
The first dangerous play came from Colombia in the 6th minute, with a shot from John Córdoba that was close to Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez’s right post.
Argentina tried to respond in the 20th minute, when a combination between Ángel di María and Lionel Messi ended with a left-footed shot from “La Pulga”, but the ball found the leg of his teammate Julián Álvarez and went wide of the right post.
The first 45 minutes ended with 50% possession between the teams , four shots on goal by Colombia, while one by Argentina, numbers that reflected the dispute for each ball.
In the second half, Argentina took control of the match . They created at least three dangerous chances for a Colombian team that seemed to have run out of ideas and all the drive they showed in the first half.
A cry for goal erupted in the 75th minute, with a shot by Nicolás Tagliafico that ended up in the back of the net, but the assistant referee immediately raised his flag to mark an obvious offside. Argentina suffered while the Colombians’ hopes returned.
After that, the Albiceleste kept trying. Nicolás González could have solved the problem before the end with a shot that went over the crossbar.
The game then went into overtime.
Goalkeeper Camilo Vargas saved Colombia at the start of the first overtime, in a play in which Rodrigo de Paul set up Nicolás González, who hit it first time and his shot ended up in the hands of the opposing goalkeeper.
Juan Fernando Quintero , who replaced captain James Rodríguez, created individual plays that opened up spaces up front, but the final shot that would worry “Dibu” Martínez was not coming .
Despite the fatigue, neither the Tri nor the Albiceleste wanted to give away any space. The fans also put pressure on the rival. But the first 15 minutes of extra time ended the same way.
After the restart, the newly substituted Miguel Borja had a great opportunity for Colombia when he was in front of goal, but his shot was blocked by Lisandro Martínez in a spectacular save.
But then came the masterful combination of Lo Celso and Toro Martínez who nailed the ball into the back of the Colombian goal, putting an end to the drama in Miami.
Messi’s tears
One of the most emotional moments for football fans came in the 64th minute.
During a play in the centre of the field, Lionel Messi fell to the ground, holding his face in pain. The captain of the Albiceleste almost immediately gave the signal that he had to leave the field of play. There was nothing else to do with an apparent muscle injury.
Already on the bench, Messi, 37, tried to hold back his tears , hurt by having left the final and what is perhaps his last Copa America match .
From the first half, alarm bells went off for the Albiceleste after Messi was injured when he tried to get the ball under Santiago Arias’s control, who ended up hitting the number 10’s ankle when he tried to get the ball.
From that moment on, the Argentine captain began to move with more caution than usual.
Pre-match chaos
The match started one hour and 20 minutes late due to security problems at the Hard Rock Stadium entrances.
“Thousands of ticketless fans attempted to force their way into the stadium, putting fans, security and law enforcement at extreme risk,” stadium management said in a statement.
The police were unable to contain the thousands of fans who forced their way in. Some were chased through the corridors and stairs, while others took advantage of the police’s inferiority to gain access to the various stands.
Some women and children experienced distressing moments due to pushing and chaos. Other fans who had tickets complained that they had paid hundreds or thousands of dollars and were not allowed in, or their seats were taken and the organizers did nothing.
“We arrived two hours before the match. We tried to get into the stadium but the entrance gates were already closed. People started to gather, at one point there were so many of us and we were all packed in, that I was scared ,” said Valentina, an Argentina fan, to BBC Mundo.
“Then they opened the doors, but everything was so packed , so chaotic, that people went through the doors without showing their tickets, jumping over the turnstiles, and only up here did they ask me for my ticket. It was a disaster.”
Conmebol merely announced that the match would be delayed by 30 minutes. But that was extended by 50 more minutes.
Shakira queen of halftime
The match featured a halftime show starring Shakira .
“Good night, Miami!” the Colombian shouted to the more than 65,000 fans in the stands. She began with Hips Don’t Lie on a stage on the field in the style of the Super Bowl half-time shows.
She then performed Te felicito, TQG and closed with Puntería , accompanied by a group of dancers and a light show that captivated her fans.
The singer’s participation caused the pause, which is 15 minutes by regulation, to be extended to 25 minutes.
