
Superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina will try to win their second consecutive Copa America title.
Argentina will play Colombia in the Copa America 2024 final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, at 9 a.m. (Korea time) on Friday.
After defeating Canada, Chile, and Peru in the group stage to advance to the tournament, Argentina defeated Ecuador on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, and upset “dark horse” Canada 2-0 in the semifinals to reach the final.
Now, with one more hurdle to overcome, Messi will be celebrating the Last Dance with the trophy.
Messi, 37, had hinted ahead of the tournament that she might retire, saying she didn’t have “a lot of time left to play.”
After picking up one assist in the first round of the tournament, Messi scored the game-winning goal in the 2-0 win over Canada.
It was Messi’s 14th goal in Copa America.
If Messi scores a hat trick against Colombia, he will move into a tie with Norberto Mendes (Argentina) and Jesus (Brazil) for first place on the Copa America career scoring list with 17 goals.
It will also be interesting to see if Lautaro Martinez, who leads the tournament’s goalscoring race with four goals, will be able to add to his tally.
Winning the tournament would be a great accomplishment for Argentina’s national team.
Argentina won the previous edition of the tournament in 2021, led by Messi’s brilliance, to claim their 15th title, tying Uruguay for the most wins.
A win would move them into sole possession of the title.
Argentina’s ‘rival’ Brazil has only won nine titles.
However, Argentina’s challenge to win the title will not be easy as Colombia has been in form.
Colombia came into the tournament with two wins and a draw in the group stage, topping Brazil.
After a relatively easy 5-0 win over Panama in the quarterfinals, the Colombians defeated eventual champions Uruguay 1-0 in the semifinals to reach the final.
The Colombian offense features Jermes Rodriguez (São Paulo), Luis Dias (Liverpool), and Daniel Muñoz (Crystal Palace), all of whom have played for top European clubs like Real Madrid, as well as the English Premier League (EPL).
Rodriguez, in particular, has an exquisite left-footed kick that has earned him six assists.
At 33 years old, Rodriguez is not far behind Messi in age, and this could be his last Copa America.
Colombia is unbeaten in 28 matches (22 wins, 6 draws). Their last defeat was a 0-1 loss in February 2022 in a World Cup qualifier in Qatar. The opponent was Argentina.
If Colombia defeats Argentina, they will lift the trophy for the second time in 23 years after winning the 2001 tournament. 파워볼사이트 추천