Argentina's triumphant Copa victory overshadowed by crushing heat.
Argentina Claims Victory in Copa America with Last-Minute Goal against Chile. Lautaro Martinez Scores the Late Winner. Leonel Messi Fails to Shine a Day After His 37th Birthday. Canada's Jonathan David Makes Historic Scoring Debut. After Qualifying for the World Cup, Argentina advanced to the Copa America Quarterfinals in the US as the first team. They defeated Chile in Group A with a 1:0 (0:0) score. In the final of 2016, Messi and his team lost to Chile at the same venue in a penalty shootout. Debutant Canada clinched its first win with a 1:0 (0:0) score against Peru, scoring its first goal in a Copa America. In their first group match, Argentina beat Canada 2:0 under the guidance of coach Lionel Scaloni.
Eight years back, Messi failed to score in a penalty shootout at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and surprisingly announced his retirement from the "Seleccion" after his fourth lost final. But nothing came of it, and so the 37-year-old celebrated a day after his birthday on Tuesday, albeit not as brilliantly as he would have wished, through Lautaro Martinez's (88.) late goal.
"It was a well-deserved victory," Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni analyzed, but added: "The goal came at a moment when we thought it was impossible." Prior to that, his team had missed numerous opportunities, and even the less visible Messi (36.) hit only the post. In the end, Argentina remained undefeated against its rival across the Andes (30 matches), even though Chile had won the finals in 2015 and 2016 without scoring a goal in 120 minutes and winning in penalty shootouts.
Jonathan David made history as the first Canadian goalscorer at a Copa America in Kansas City. After a red card against Peru's Miguel Araujo (59), David utilized the numerical superiority for the winning goal (74). The match was marred by the heat collapse of the assistant referee Humberto Panjoj from Guatemala, who was immediately rushed to the hospital just before the halftime whistle.
Argentina (6 points) needs a draw against Peru (1) on Saturday to win the group. Canada (3) under the leadership of captain Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) can secure the second quarterfinal ticket against Chile (1).
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Argentina's victorious Copa America campaign continued as they defeated Chile in the quarterfinals, with Lionel Messi contributing despite having a subpar performance. In the final match of Copa America 2021, Argentina aims to rewrite their history and clinch the title, avenging their 2016 loss to Chile, which was also Messi's fourth Copa America final loss.
