Messi's first trophy, Neymar's tears and Tite's complaints: how Argentina won the America's Cup

Trash-talk Martinez on penalties

Perhaps it was difficult to imagine a better final for the America's Football Cup than the confrontation between the eternal rivals - Brazil and Argentina.

One of the oldest derbies on the planet invariably arouses great interest around the world.

True, both teams almost stumbled a step before the decisive meeting.

The hosts of the tournament, Brazilians, beat Peru with a minimum score thanks to a goal by Lucas Packet in the 35th minute.

Assisted partner Neymar, who beautifully threw the ball between the legs of the opponent in someone else's penalty area and performed a perfect pass under attack.

In the second half, the Chilean team of judges, led by Roberto Tobar Vargas, could well have awarded a penalty to the gate of the Pentacampeons for playing with Thiago Silva's hand, but they did not, and the favorite brought the case to victory.

Argentina did put the squeeze on Colombia only in the penalty shootout.

Lionel Messi also scored an assist from the field.

At the very beginning of the meeting, the six-time winner of the Ballon d'Or helped Lautaro Martinez to excel.

But Luis Diaz after the break restored equality on the scoreboard.

The protagonist of the lottery was the goalkeeper Albiseleste Emiliano Martinez.

He made a real trash-talk right on the field and before each blow he said something to his opponents, trying to confuse them.

For example, he told Yerri Mine that he knew where he would hit.

This tactic worked.

Martinez parried shots from Mina, Davinson Sanchez and Edwin Cardona and led his team to the final.

Moreover, in all three cases, he jumped to the left corner.

After the match, Messi, who was playing out the semifinal bout in a bloody gaiter due to a serious cut in the ankle, called the goalkeeper a "phenomenon."

Later, he posted a photo with Emiliano on his Instagram page and tagged him.

As a result, the number of Aston Villa footballers' subscribers increased many times in just a few days and amounted to 2.3 million.

Play until the first mistake in the final

Of course, the final was presented as a confrontation between Messi and Neymar.

Both have never won the America's Cup, despite the fact that for Lionel it was the sixth attempt to become the champion of the continent, and for his former teammate - the third.

However, the Brazilian still has time to fill this gap, while the 34-year-old Argentinian probably got the last opportunity to win the first trophy with the national team, if you do not take into account the 2008 Olympics.

And one of the best players in history in this tournament had too many annoying failures.

For example, in 2015 and 2016, albiseleste lost twice in the finals to Chile in a penalty shootout.

Moreover, in the latter case, Messi did not realize his attempt.

This time, the forward did everything to win the long-awaited victory.

In six games on the way to the final, Lionel scored four goals (one from the penalty spot), gave five assists and the day before the last meeting, along with Neymar, was recognized as the best footballer of the tournament.

The game itself on the "Marakana" turned out to match the classic final fights.

There were much more tough single combats in it than football itself.

The two main stars did not have time to receive the ball, as they immediately fell under pressure.

It is not surprising that for the entire match the opponents inflicted only two shots on each other's goal.

And the outcome of the game was decided by the gross mistake of Renan Lodi in the middle of the first half.

The home defender swung his foot past the ball after a deep shot by Rodrigo De Paul and allowed Angel Di Maria to take the pass in the penalty area.

An experienced midfielder calmly threw Ederson, who came out to meet.

After that, the guests calmly sat down on their half of the field and began to restrain the opponent.

Tite's players took control of the ball, but they rarely managed to get past the opponent's defensive line.

In fact, the whole team retreated, and only Messi was on duty in the center, hoping for a counterattack.

Actually, he had an excellent opportunity to put an end to this confrontation.

In one of the episodes, the striker went one-on-one with Ederson, almost beat the goalkeeper lying on the lawn, but he corrected the situation with his foot at the last moment.

Nevertheless, this did not prevent Argentina from winning the America's Cup for the first time since 1993 and at the same time taking revenge on the Pentacampeons.

For the first time since 1937, the team beat Brazil in the final of the continental championship.

Previous meetings in 2004 and 2007 ended in failure.

National holiday in Argentina

Messi still won the long-awaited trophy on the fifth attempt, and after the final whistle he could not hold back his tears.

“I have dreamed about it many times.

I would like to dedicate the title to my family, wife, children, parents, brothers, who often had to suffer as much as I did, or even more.

We went on vacation and spent some very sad days as I won nothing.

This time everything will be different, "- quotes the words of the footballer Ole.

Moreover, according to the head coach of the national team Lionel Scaloni, the captain entered the field with an injury in the final, but despite this, he worked all 90 minutes.

Neymar also cried after the award, but for a completely different reason.

He again failed to win the America's Cup with the Brazilian national team.

He only looked reproachfully at the unnecessary silver medal.

Messi tried to console him at this moment.

The former Barcelona partners hugged warmly.

Tite was also extremely annoyed.

At a press conference, he criticized the quality of the lawn at Marakana, the level of organization of the tournament in general, and at the same time called the Argentineans' game “anti-football”.

“The match was interrupted and then started.

We wanted to play, but it was anti-football.

There were constant dives for the penalty kicks, which then took forever to complete, and the referee Esteban Ostokhich did not resume the game.

The strategy was to disrupt its course ”, - quotes the words of the specialist Ole.

Albiseleste can be criticized as much as you like for not being the brightest football, but the team fulfilled its task and took the America's Cup.

Immediately after the awards ceremony, Skaloni's wards, along with the won trophy, went to the podium of their fans and rolled along the lawn on their stomachs.

The celebration continued in the Maracana dressing room, where the champions poured champagne over everything and danced with songs around the cup.

Messi, on the other hand, sought to share the joy with his family.

Directly from the field, he called his wife and children by video link and talked to them, and also demonstrated a gold medal.

Later, two sons and a daughter recorded a touching video for him, singing together a song in honor of the long-awaited victory of their father.

The wife of Antonella Roccuzzo addressed the athlete with a touching post on social networks.

"We are champions!

Go Argentina!

Come on my love!

God gave you what you dreamed of!

And you deserve it.

I can't wait to see you to celebrate together, ”the girl wrote on Instagram.

Ordinary Argentines also celebrated the long-awaited success of the football team.

Thousands of people took to the streets across the country.

In Buenos Aires, almost the entire center was filled.

And in Rosario, Messi's hometown, a gigantic projection of the image of the six-time winner of the Ballon d'Or was brought to one of the steles.

Now it is possible that Lionel will receive a seventh.

And most importantly, he can calmly end his career, knowing that he won the trophy with the national team and did not follow the path of the great Pele and Diego Maradona, who never took the America's Cup.