Argentina has won the Copa America, after 28 years

Lionel Messi has ended Argentina’s 28-year trophy drought

Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player of all time, finally wins an international trophy for his country. The Albiceleste won the Copa America Final by a goal to nil against their arch-rivals Brazil. Brazil and heartbreak at the Maracana have been synonymous in football folklore. Back in 1950, the Maracana stadium was built in the hope that the Selecao would win their 1st World Cup on home turf, but as we’re all aware, plans tend to go awry in the beautiful game. Brazil ended up losing to Uruguay in the Final, marking 16th July 1950 as a “national tragedy” for the country. While not as tragic as the 1950 final, Brazil was expected to win the Copa America, and losing out to Argentina in the final is a massive disappointment for them.

How did the game flow?

Brazil came out guns blazing in the first half. Neymar was causing all sorts of problems for Argentina’s backline, Otamendi and Romero struggled to keep with brazil’s pace. In hindsight, allowing Brazil to dominate seems to have been Argentinas game plan all along, as they hit Brazil on the counter-attack. Rodrigo De Paul produced a defence-splitting pass for Angel De Maria to latch on to and score, and that’s exactly what De Maria did on minute 22. Argentina sat back and defended through the game after the goal. Although Brazil has some shots on goal, they never really got going and Argentina’s backline proved too hard to crack. Messi had a glorious opportunity to put the game to bed in the final minutes, but rather uncharacteristically, failed to convert. It didn’t matter though, as Argentina held on, and won the game.

The GOAT Debate is settled

Apple Vs Samsung, Pineapple Pizza Vs Normal Pizza(seriously, you all need to stop putting pineapple on pizza 🤢), Messi Vs Ronaldo. These debates might be the catalyst for World War 3. But Messi seems to have put the Messi Vs Ronaldo debate to bed. His performance at Copa América earned him the best player of the tournament and the top scorer awards, and he finally has an international trophy for his country. People have often criticized Messi for his supposed “lack of commitment” to Argentina. But these criticisms have never been fair, as evidenced by his performance against Colombia in the semi-final. Messi was bleeding from his ankle but still decided to play and eventually scored a penalty in the shootout, helping his team progress to the final. Messi is and always will be the greatest footballer of all time. I don’t mean to offend Ronaldo fans with this statement. These two monsters have dominated the game like no other player before and in my opinion, Messi and Ronaldo are the two greatest of all time.

What next for Messi

Messi is currently jobless, Leo is the richest jobless person in the world 😅. His contract with FC Barcelona expired on July 1, and he has been without a club ever since. Barcelona is expected to offer a new contract to Leo, but they might have to do this asap. Many clubs are actively looking to sign the GOAT.

Maybe, we can convince Messi to switch professions and become a writer. We do have an opening for a sports writer here at halfofthe.

Also, read France knocked out of Euro 2020