Argentina opened the Copa America with the expected victory against newcomers Canada, but had to tremble for a long time – also because Lionel Messi failed to impress in just one category
Lionel Messi gave the fans in Atlanta (USA) the show they had hoped for at the start of the Copa America. With magnificent dream passes, the 37-year-old (as of Monday) led defending champions Argentina to the expected opening victory against Canada, who are taking part in the tournament as guests for the first time, on Friday night (CEST). However, the world champions had some work to do before the 2:0 victory was secured.
This was due to the cheeky Canadians, who were well prepared by their new coach Jesse Marsch, but also to the Argentinians’ lack of chances. Angel di Maria missed a one-on-one as early as the eighth minute, running in alone from the halfway line towards keeper Maxime Crepeau. The Argentinian penalty area was also on fire from time to time, but the score was 0-0 at the break.
Messi & Co. had to step up – and they did. Four minutes into the second half, “La Pulga” Julian Alvarez set up Julian Alvarez’s opening goal with a perfect pass to Alexis Mac Allister on the edge of the box (49′), but then failed to make the difference himself: He failed to score twice in front of Crepeau (65’/79′), keeping the Canadians in the game, where Alphonso Davies also impressed and later picked up Messi’s jersey.
Messi: Record extended, record snatched, record in sight
It was Lautaro Martinez, who came on as a substitute for Alvarez, who made it 2-0 (88′), after Messi had also found him with a dream pass. Now with 17 assists, the 183-time international extended his own Copa record and grabbed another: He is the first player to reach 35 Copa appearances; Chilean keeper Sergio Livingstone had led in this category since 1953. Should Messi score five times in this year’s edition, he would also have overtaken record goalscorers Norberto Mendez (Argentina) and Zizinho (Brazil) with 17 goals.
Messi will get his next chance on Wednesday (3:00 CEST) in the second group game against Chile, who start their Copa campaign against Peru on Saturday (2:00 CEST). In what will probably be his last major tournament, Messi’s main aim is to lead Argentina to their 16th title – so far Uruguay are tied on 15
