The tears on Messi’s face were wiped away by teammate Lautaro Martinez when this super sub scored the only goal to bring Argentina into Copa America history.
Lionel Messi broke the record in Copa America history by becoming the first player to play in 5 finals, surpassing his former teammate Javier Mascherano (4 times), and also the oldest player (37 years and 20 days) to play in the final. But this morning Messi could not go to the last minute on the field due to injury .
Tears rolled down Messi’s face when he had to leave the field after more than an hour of play. However, super sub Lautaro Martinez shined at the right time, not only helping Messi have a great ending but also helping Argentina make history with the 2024 Copa America championship.
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Messi burst into tears as he left the field in the 64th minute of the Copa America final and later had to apply ice to his right ankle.
It was precisely Lautaro Martinez’s cool finish, ending a lightning counterattack in the 112th minute, that decided the fate of the final match between Argentina and Colombia. Notably, the goal came just 5 minutes after Lautaro Martinez came on to replace Julian Alvarez.
More specifically, this is also Lautaro Martinez’s 5th goal after 6 appearances in this year’s Copa and he has scored in the true role of super sub after coming on as a substitute in matches against Canada, Chile and now Colombia.
In total, Lautaro Martinez only needed 221 minutes of play – out of a maximum of 570 minutes if he could play all 6 matches – and exactly… 11 shots to score 5 goals. With such an impressive performance, it is clear that no one deserves the title of top scorer of the tournament more than the 27-year-old striker currently playing for Inter Milan.
Super sub, hero Lautaro Martinez (right) scored the decisive goal to help Argentina win the Copa America, wiping away the previous tears of disappointment from his senior Messi (left).
Not only did Lautaro Martinez’s “golden goal” help Argentina successfully defend the Copa America title, but the tango team also made history by becoming the first team to win the tournament 16 times, surpassing Uruguay (15 times) and leaving far behind rival Brazil (9 times).
More impressively, Argentina is also the first South American team to win a hat-trick of 3 consecutive major titles: Copa America 2021 – World Cup 2022 – Copa America 2024.
