Two years have passed since the Copa América of the Argentine National Team at the Maracana

Two years ago, and after almost three decades without a tournament at the level of winning a senior team, the team led by Lionel Scaloni took a thorn off: winning a title from the hand of Lionel Messi.

The Argentine team defeated Brazil 1-0 on their pitch, at the Maracana, and became the 2021 Copa América champion, which would initially be played in Colombia and Argentina but, due to the social crisis that Colombia suffered and the sanitary conditions in Argentina due to the pandemic, Conmebol carried out the continental contest in the neighboring country.

At 22 minutes into the first half, Rodrigo De Paul loves Ángel Di María who, as he did in other finals, pounced on the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Moraes and became the only goal of the match to give rise to the Argentine “Maracanazo” .

Lionel Messi’s revelation about his friendship with De Paul: “He helped me a lot”

Thus, it was the first championship for Lionel Messi with the Senior National Team and marked the beginning of a successful cycle that continued with the Finalissima against Italy and crowned with the World Cup in Qatar 2022 against France, which was defending the title.

“I needed to get rid of my thorn and get something with the National Team. He knew that at some point it was going to happen.”Messi expressed.

“This group really deserved it. I trusted this group a lot, which became strong with very good people who always push forward, who never complain about anything, ”added La Pulga after the victory against Brazil at his home.

The Dibu and “look what I eat you”

Another of the jewels that left the tournament was the incredible performance of Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez in the semifinal against Colombia. After equalizing in the 90s, the Argentine goalkeeper excelled in the 12-step shootout with three saved shots and, before Yerry Mina’s save, he immortalized the phrase: “Look, I look like a brother to you”

The road to the end

In the group stage of the tournament, Scaloni’s team began with a 1-1 draw with Chile, while later they defeated Uruguay 1-0, prevailed by the same result against Paraguay and thrashed Bolivia 4-1. for which he finished in first place with 10 points.

In the quarterfinals, the Argentine national team beat Ecuador 3-0 with goals from Rodrigo De Paul, Lautaro Martínez and Lionel Messi to qualify for the semifinals against Colombia.

After beating the coffee team in a penalty shootout, Argentina beat Brazil in the final.

GM