Johannesburg – Argentina star, Lionel Messi cemented his place as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game after he led his team to victory in a tightly contested Copa America final, against arch rivals Brazil.
The match pitted former Barcelona teammates Messi and Neymar in the early hours of this morning at the historic Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The two world stars went into the match having not lifted the continent’s showpiece, just like their famed countrymen Pele of Brazil and Diego Maradona of Argentina before them.
Pressure was more on Messi, as this was largely seen hiss last chance to win a major trophy to end his country’s 28-year trophy drought. Messi is 33 years old.
The Argentina captain has endured four failures in major tournament finals – three at the Copa America (2007, 2015, 2016) and one at the Fifa World Cup (2014). T
The 1-0 victory over the hosts also saw Argentina end tier nearly 30 years wait for a major silverware. Argentina had last tasted success at a major tournament in 1993 when Gabriel Batistuta’s brace gave them a 2-1 win over Mexico in the Copa final in Ecuador.
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