- Uruguay’s national team took third place following beating Canada | Photo: EFE
With a right-footed shot from the center of the area, Argentine footballer Lautaro Martínez (top scorer of the tournament) scored the winning goal in the 112th minute that gave the Albiceleste the cup in the final of the 48th edition of the Copa América that was played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (United States).
The Argentine national team revalidated its title and added its sixteenth Copa América to lead the list of champions alone and left behind Uruguay, which has 15 titles.
Before the end of the match, in the 116th minute, Ángel Di María said goodbye, playing his last match with the Argentine national team and receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.
In regulation time, both teams tied without goals, which forced a 30-minute overtime. At the start of the extra time, the Colombian coach substituted James Rodríguez, named best player of the Copa América, for Juan Fernando Quintero.
For the Albiceleste, the captain of the Argentine team, Lionel Messi, left the match due to injury in the 65th minute and left the match in tears. He was replaced by Nicolás González.
To add to the drama, Gonzalo Montiel was called out to the pitch shortly followingwards, asking for a substitution, and almost immediately following, a goal was disallowed for Nicolás Tagliafico’s prior offside on Nicolás González.
The Colombian and Argentine teams went into the break following a goalless first half.
Argentina gave a warning in the first minute, through Julián Álvarez, but it was Colombia who had the best chance, a shot that hit the outside of the left post of Emiliano Martínez’s goal (m.7).
A great shot from Jefferson Lerma from outside the area, which was responded to with a great clearance by Emiliano Martínez (m.34), was the other great Colombian chance of a first half in which Leo Messi had to be treated for a few minutes on the touchline following a challenge on Santiago Arias’ left ankle near the goal line.
The winner of the 2024 final will receive a check for $16 million, while the runner-up will receive $7 million.
The tournament prizes
The Colombian team was awarded the Fair Play prize in the 48th edition of the tournament.
The team managed by Néstor Lorenzo won the award for having received the fewest warnings.
James Rodríguez was named the best player of the Copa América. The Colombian, who took over from Lionel Messi as the MVP of the Copa América, re-emerged in this tournament with his best level and was exceptional in the distribution with six assists.
Lautaro Martínez won the Golden Boot as the top scorer at the 2024 Copa América. He scored a total of 5 goals, including the one that gave his team the title once morest Colombia.
Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez was named the best goalkeeper. The goalkeeper was the hero of the quarter-finals, in which he rescued Argentina in the penalty shoot-out once morest Ecuador.
Martínez only conceded one goal in the entire tournament – the one Ecuador scored in the quarter-finals – and kept five clean sheets.
Shakira’s performance at the Copa America final
Shakira, the star of the half-time show at the Copa América final, in a metallic grey outfit and on a stage located on one of the sidelines of the field, put on a show during the intermission with the aim of recalling the shows that dazzle every year at the Super Bowl.
The break in the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia lasted 26 minutes due to Shakira’s special show during the intermission.
This was the first time that a Copa América final had a musical show during the break and this forced a much longer break than required (15 minutes).
The short concert (regarding 7 minutes) began tonight in Miami with songs like “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Te felicito” before playing “Puntería,” the official anthem of this Copa América, which has been heard in all the tournament’s stadiums over the past month.
“Where are the Colombians? And the Argentines? What a night, my God…” said the Barranquilla native on stage.
This was the first time that the Copa América organized a concert during the half-time of its final.
Messi, the player who has played in the most Copa America finals
Lionel Messi, captain of the Argentine national team, has added a new record to his career this Sunday, becoming the player who has played in the most finals in the history of the Copa América, with 5.
The captain also reached the final stage of the tournament in 2007, 2015, 2016 and 2021 and surpasses his former teammate Javier Mascherano, current Argentine Olympic coach, who played in 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2016.
In this competition, Messi holds the record for games played (39), the record for victories (24 so far) and is, along with the Brazilian Zizinho, Pelé’s idol and star in the late 40s and early 50s, the only one to have scored in six different editions (he only failed to score in 2011).
A stampede of dozens of fans wearing Colombian and, to a lesser extent, Argentine national team shirts jumped the turnstiles at the Hard Rock Stadium following overcoming the security cordon, causing moments of tension regarding two hours before the start of the Copa América final.
The fans climbed over the fences following outnumbering the guards and following reaching the inside they ran through different corridors leading to the stands. Due to these incidents, the entrances to the stadium were closed.
The situation caused the organization to delay the start of the game for 30 minutes, following which it was announced that the match would start at 9:15 pm (Venezuela time). After the official acts, the initial whistle was blown at 9:22 pm.
Before the decision to postpone the match was announced, players from both teams went out onto the field to warm up and returned to the locker room minutes later. Around 8:40 pm, players from both teams went out onto the field to warm up once more.
Florida police had to step up security as soon as order was restored and within minutes they arrested several fans who entered without tickets.
Dozens of fans from Argentina and Colombia have strongly criticized Conmebol, the organization that organizes the Copa America, for the lack of foresight in security and the ease with which dozens of fans were able to enter the stadium following climbing fences and knocking down barricades.
Uruguay beat Canada 3-4 on penalties to secure third place in the Copa América in the United States in a match that ended 2-2 in regulation time at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Ismael Koné and Alphonso Davis wasted their shots.
Rodrigo Bentancur put Uruguay ahead in the eighth minute, but Ismael Koné equalised a quarter of an hour later with a great overhead kick inside the area.
At the end of the second half, Canada, which looked more physically aggressive than Uruguay, scored the winning goal in the 80th minute through Jonathan David.
With information from EFE
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2024-07-16 03:53:44
