Copa America 2021 News

Messi won the Golden Boot and the Player of the Tournament award at Copa America, his first major international trophy.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi broke a massive jinx by finally winning a major international trophy - the Copa America 2021 - 16 years after making his debut. The international win was a huge weight on Messi's shoulder, who has achieved it all at the domestic level for Barcelona. However, there are other sporting legends who had to announce their retirement without any international trophy to their name. Here we take a look at sporting greats who failed to win any major international trophy.

Argentina coach on Sunday revealed that Lionel Messi played in the Copa America Final with an injury. “You can never do without a player like him, even when he is not fully fit like in this game and the previous one," Lionel Scaloni said.

Messi dished up four goals and five assists in six matches while Neymar delivered two goals and three assists in five games. CONMEBOL’s technical study group added that the players had a positive impact on their teams and were “the reflection of the South American DNA in every match they played” in the Copa.

Their win extended their sequence of undefeated matches to 20 under Scaloni and handed Brazil their first competitive defeat since they lost to Belgium in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup. The victory was Argentina’s 15th Copa America triumph and means they draw level with Uruguay as the all-time leading winners.

Messi finished the tournament level with Colombia’s Luis Diaz for most goals with each player scoring four times. There is much speculation around what the future holds in stake for the Argentina icon.

Although captain Lionel Messi was not at his best tonight, he ends his drought without an international title. The final was far from a classic, but Lionel Scaloni and his men will be elated to end Argentina's 28-year wait for the Copa America trophy.

Brazil superstar Neymar finds himself in a spot of bother ahead of the Copa America 2021 final against Argentina as he reckons his friendship with Messi is on the line.

Messi has spoken at length about the dream of winning a title with Argentina and his compatriots know how much an international trophy means to him. In the past, his team mates were blamed for letting him down, by missing chances in finals or failing to match his superhuman levels of brilliance or focus.

The Copa America 2021 final will see a clash between two of the greatest modern footballers when Argentina's Lionel Messi faces off against Brazil's Neymar. Both Messi and Neymar have been former teammates at Barcelona, but will be at the opposite ends of the pitch come the final. While Messi is a family man, Neymar leads a colourful life off the pitch, with a host of girlfriends which include models, Playboy cover girls and actress. In these colection of pictures, we introduce you to all of Neymar's girlfriends over the years.

In the international arena, the two have gone up against each other on four occasions. In an international friendly in 2010, the two faced off for the first time ever. In that game, Messi scored a brilliant goal in the dying stages of the game to win it for Argentina.

With five assists in six matches in the ongoing tournament, Messi set a new record of providing the most number of assists in one edition of Copa America. With four goals in six matches, Messi has scored 13 goals in six editions of the tournament.

A video is making the rounds in social media, recording Lionel Messi’s animated and passionate reaction during the nerve-wrecking penalty shoot-out against the Los Cafeteros.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been sizzling on the pitch, setting the Copa America 2021 on fire and lifted his team into the final to face former Barcelona teammate Neymar's Brazil. Messi's team defeated Colombia via penalties in the Copa America semifinal, with the captain playing most of the game with a bloody ankle. But very few people know about Messi's beautiful wife Antonela Roccuzzo. Here are some unseen pictures of Messi's HOT wife and childhood sweetheart.

The 14-time champions took the early lead courtesy of a fine strike from Martinez (7th minute) after Giovanni Lo Celso linked up with Lionel Messi, who set up the Inter Milan forward. It was followed by chances from either side. Argentina came close to doubling their lead when Nicolas Gonzalez picked up a header from Lionel Messi's corner-kick.

Colombia was stripped of hosting rights due to a wave of civil unrest and Argentina pulled out at the last minute because of a surge in COVID-19 cases. Neymar missed Brazil’s Copa America triumph on home soil two years ago but inspired them to the 2013 Confederations Cup as well as Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Argentina will now lock horns against Colombia in the semis. The match is scheduled for Tuesday at the National Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia. Fans are already hoping for an Argentina versus Brazil final. That happens or not would be interesting to see.

The following players were also on two goals at 2021 Copa América but their teams have been eliminated from the competition: Ángel Romero (Paraguay), Ayrton Preciado (Ecuador), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Eduardo Vargas (Chile) and Erwin Saavedra (Bolivia). In the knockout stages of Copa America and the World Cup, Messi has five goals and 15 assists so far – a feat no other player has achieved.

Messi scored a goal and assisted the other two as Argentina defeated Ecuador 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Copa America and the side will now lock horns against Colombia in the semifinals on Wednesday.

A judge asked the CBF to explain whether the decision not to hand out a No. 24 shirt was deliberate, who inside the organisation is responsible for choosing the numbers, and whether football’s governing bodies had any guidelines on registering player numbers. The CBF has not responded to requests for comment.