Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 at Copa America final winning the national team’s first title in 28 years and Messi’s first major with his country.
Argentina’s winning goal at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro came in the 22nd minute after Rodrigo De Paul made a long pass to Angel Di Maria.
Angel came up with the vital goal, but nobody did more to drive the Albiceleste to glory than their veteran captain, Messi.
Argentina’s win was a particular triumph for Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, who picked up his first ever title in a blue and white shirt after more than 10 years of club and individual honours.
The victory was Argentina’s 15th Copa America triumph, and it means they draw level with Uruguay as the all-time leading winners.
Argentina’s win extended their sequence of undefeated matches to 20 under Lionel Scaloni and handed Brazil their first competitive defeat since they lost to Belgium in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup.
Messi finished as the tournament’s joint top goal scorer with four goals and was elected joint best player along with Neymar. But Messi was quiet throughout Saturday’s contest and uncharacteristically missed a golden opportunity to wrap the game up with two minutes remaining.
The former Barcelona team-mates remain great friends off the pitch, so Neymar wanted to salute his tournament rival even as he still had tears in his eyes from the loss. Later, the duo sat next to one another on the field to talk.
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