It was a long night of emotions, a Sunday that turned into a Monday and that tested the hearts of both teams and the two fan bases that filled the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. In the end, Argentina became the biggest winner of the Copa América by defeating Colombia 1-0, in a match that went into extra time.
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Colombia put their heart and soul into it, but they were unable to score when they could. Argentina, without Lionel Messi from the start of the second half, changed their approach to the game, moving from football to fighting, and thus took the title.
After all the tension in the hours leading up to the game, the riots, the incidents, the people pushing and shoving to get into the stands, the game turned out to be calmer than expected, at least in the first half. But there were all kinds of feelings to deal with.
James Rodriguez’s magical left foot began to control the match and, after 7 minutes, he had the yellow team in Hard Rock Stadium on their feet: he launched a long ball looking for Santiago Arias, who brought it down to the heart of the area. Jhon Córdoba had time to turn, but not to give the ball the best direction.
Then, James again, in a corner kick, found the head of Dávinson Sánchez, who, instead of shooting at goal, sent the ball to the center looking for a second teammate. And there was Carlos Cuesta, who gave it a goal destination, but without strength.
After 20 minutes, the game fell into limbo. Colombia had the match under control, with a huge recovery duo, with Jéfferson Lerma and Ríchard Ríos more than dedicated to stopping everything that happened around them, to the point that Camilo Vargas only had to work once, on a shot by Lionel Messi.
It was not until the end of the first half that a new dangerous chance was found. And it came in the 41st minute, when Richard Ríos shot that grazed Dibu Martínez’s gloves.
If some missed Muñoz and his outings, Santi Arias did more than well in the first half and was close to scoring at the start of the second, when, again, James launched a ball at 18. Córdoba could only lower it to the other side and the full-back hit it weakly.
But now Argentina did look a little more dangerous and, now yes, Vargas had to put on his cape and dress as a hero, in a masterful deflection to get out of his safety zone and prevent Alexis Mac Allister’s goal.
Colombia, whenever they could, showed that they could do damage from above. And in another corner kick that the ’10’ saved, there was again a double header, although with the same result: Córdoba in the centre and Dávinson, unable to give him a goal.
Argentina immediately tried to strike back, and did so with a shot from Angel di Maria, in the last match with the National Team, which forced Vargas to fly again to keep the score at 0-0.
Of course, there was drama, too. And the protagonist was Lionel Messi. Already in the first half, in a clash with Santiago Arias, he was left with a sore ankle. And then, when he tried to close down Luis Díaz, he slipped and had to leave injured, 19 minutes into the second half. That fall could have been his last act in the Copa América, in which he played 39 games and scored 14 goals. Leo ended up frustrated, taking off a boot and throwing it to the floor before sitting on the bench to cry. The coach replaced him with Nico González.
The physical condition continued to take its toll on the Argentines: Gonzalo Montiel, after committing a foul on Santiago Arias, also had to leave due to injury and Scaloni reorganized the defense with Nahuel Molina. And shortly after, as if something was missing, there was also controversy with VAR included: Mac Allister and Córdoba went to fight for a ball in the Argentine area and the Colombian striker fell. Referee Raphael Claus had called a foul in attack. The review did not reveal anything.
Messi’s exit ended up benefiting Argentina. What followed in the 90th minute was anguish, because Argentina almost got the winning goal in the 87th minute, when Nico González headed a cross from the right at the far post and crossed the ball, which ended up a little wide and found neither the goal nor an attacking partner. If Colombia had not missed Muñoz in attack, they did in defense, because Arias’ back ended up being a crack that was difficult to cover.
Lorenzo, who had not played in the starting line-up, made two changes before the end of the 90 minutes. He refreshed the team piece by piece, with Kevin Castaño replacing Ríos and Rafael Santos Borré replacing Córdoba. But Colombia could not control the game and ended up calling time out in the 90 minutes.
In extra time, with James no longer on the pitch and Juanfer Quintero taking his place, it was Argentina who tried to win the game from the start, with a shot from Nico González in which Camilo Vargas put his cards on the line to be the star of the match. And that was the state of play when Scaloni changed his attack, bringing on Leandro Paredes, Giovani lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez.
And there was one more feeling: hope. Because in the last minutes of extra time, Colombia began to take possession of the ball. Quintero began to play and with him, Colombia began to get closer. In many cases, there was no more legs, but there was no lack of heart.
Lorenzo gave the last 15 minutes to Miguel Borja, Jorge Carrascal and Mateus Uribe, replacing Díaz, Jhon Arias and Lerma. But in a lapse, on a ball lost by Castaño, Argentina caught Colombia off guard and Lo Celso set up Lautaro Martínez, who beat Vargas and, in the 112th minute, became the Copa América’s top scorer, with five goals.
The final minutes were filled with impotence, a second VAR review for a possible foul on Borja and, in the end, a celebration by others. Colombia gave their all. It wasn’t enough.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Deputy Sports Editor
@josasc
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