July 15 – Before the final of Copa America between holders, Argentina and pretenders, Colombia, Uruguay coach, Marcelo Bielsa ripped Conmebol and hosts, the United States. He said that the pitches were unsuitable, the training grounds a disaster, that the US used FIFA lawsuits for its own interests, and that security was a joke.
Bielsa wasn’t exaggerating about security!
At the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami, the gates were breached. Women and children were crushed, while police and security were powerless to stop ticketless fans from storming the venue.
It was almost a carbon copy of the disorder that occurred at Wembley Stadium before the final of the 2021 European Championships. Kick-off was delayed over an hour and twenty minutes before order was somewhat restored while X blew up with videos and images that will have 2026 World Cup organisers waking up in a cold sweat.
When the football did begin, Colombia showed exactly why they are on an unbeaten run of 28 matches in front of a 70,000-plus crowd dominated by the yellow shirts of Los Cafeteros.
Ultimately it wasn’t enough to stop Argentina gaining the ascendancy in the later part of the match and added time
Nestor Lorenzo has built a team that combines physicality, discipline, and talent that would give any team on the planet questions to answer. In a 45 minutes that was short on quality chances, Jhon Cordoba had the best Colombian opportunity as a slick interchange of passes resulted in him hooking his shot onto the far post with Emiliano Martinez a spectator.
Martinez was called into action again when Jefferson Lerma unleashed a fine strike from 25 yards, the World Cup, Golden Glove winner always looked comfortable diving to his right though.
James Rodriguez, so often the orchestrator for underdogs was limited to set pieces which have been his bread and butter throughout the tournament, however, they did raise some concerns in the Argentinian penalty area without truly threatening.
As for the champions, they offered very little other than a Lionel Messi shot deflected by his teammate, Julian Alvarez, who took the sting out of the shot, making an easy save for Camilo Vargas.
Just before half-time a major scare for Argentina as Messi rolled around theatrically after a challenge that saw him slide off the pitch. The captain knows this game inside out though and rolled back on to the pitch delaying the restart of the game. Whether the injury would slow him down would be answered as Brazilian referee, Raphael Claus began the second period. A period that would be very busy for the man in black.
The first 15 minutes were a litany of fouls and play-acting that would require a strong hand and personality. Thankfully for the game, the Brazilian was up to the task.
When anything resembling football did break out it was Argentina though Alexis Mac Allister and Angel Di Maria causing the biggest scares in the Colombian backline with Vargas producing first composure and then athleticism to turn around a fierce drive from the latter.
In the 64th minute, the moment that every Argentinian hoped would never happen, happened. Messi went down again, unchallenged, non-contact. He knew immediately, his race was run, and like his great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2024, the tears started flowing uncontrollably. You couldn’t help but wonder looking at him distraught on the bench, if this was it, the end of Messi and Argentina?
Without their talisman, La Albiceleste didn’t blink. Despite conceding possession to Colombia, Argentina created the better opportunities with Messi’s replacement, Nicolas Gonzalez proving to be a real handful in all phases of the attack.
A brilliant move by the champions finally saw Gonzalez put the ball in the back of the net but Nicolas Tagliafico had strayed offside. Still, Argentina kept coming and Colombia for the first time looked truly vulnerable but through grit, passion, and commitment they held on to force extra time.
The first period of extra time disappeared in the blink of an eye with players dropping like flies either from exhaustion from the heat and humidity or play-acting. Gonzalez had another great chance that Vargas did superbly to smother.
Scaloni made his moves bringing on Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso, and Lautaro Martinez, and in the 111th minute of the never-ending night, the three substitutes combined. Paredes won the ball and fed Lo Celso whose first-time ball put Martinez through with Vargas the only man between him and immortal glory. One touch and one powerful shot later he had his 5th goal of the tournament and Argentina’s 16th and record-breaking Copa America title.
The on-field celebrations told you everything you needed to know about the togetherness of the Argentinian team as they solidified their status as the world’s best international team.
For Colombia, they couldn’t find a 29th game unbeaten and with time will acknowledge they were beaten by the better team. The future for Los Cafeteros is bright though and they’ll be a major force in two years when the World Cup returns to America as well as Canada and Mexico.
A night that began with chaos ended with the GOAT lifting yet another trophy in this incredible run. Serious questions will be asked of Conmebol but they got the ending they probably wanted right in Mess’s backyard.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1724212897labto1724212897ofdlr1724212897owedi1724212897sni@o1724212897fni1724212897