After an 80-minute delay due to fans unrest outside the stadium and a distressing injury to Lionel Messi, along with a grueling 90 minutes of regulation, Lautaro Martinez stroke home a superb strike in the 112th minute to win Argentina the 2024 Copa America.
The highly anticipated match got underway at 9:22pm ET, over an hour behind schedule. Despite Lionel Messi injury, Argentina came out victorious, defending their America title with a 1-0 win over Colombia. Prior to the game’s start, the Miami-Dade Police Department reported “several incidents” outside the stadium. Fans blamed the organizers, CONMEBOL, with one stating, “It’s a disaster. They won’t even give water. Not even water!” Numerous supporters, including young children, were stranded in the scorching heat, unable to access the venue.
Furthermore, several fans were ejected during the course of the match. Lionel Scaloni revealed that Messi had attempted to play through the pain in the final, unwilling to let his teammates down. Messi received medical attention in the first half and was eventually substituted in the second, with television cameras later showing his badly swollen right ankle. “Leo has something that everyone should have,” a testament to Messi’s unwavering commitment and determination. Scaloni remarked, “He won’t back down.” It’s not because he’s selfish, but because he doesn’t want to let his teammates down. He was born to be on the field.
Argentina’s victory brought an end to Colombia’s remarkable 28-game unbeaten run. Their last defeat before tonight was against Argentina, back in February 2022. Davinson Sanchez, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur and now playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, was one of the few Colombia players to speak up after falling at the final hurdle. “It hurts after a tournament that the whole team fought for. It’s painful when you compete to win, and we felt we deserved more. But we have to thank the people,” he said. “We wanted to give the victory to a country that deserves it, Colombia deserves everything, and we leave empty-handed, but we will go on.”
