Striker Lautaro Martínez scored the only goal in the 112th minute to help Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the 2024 Copa America final.
The final match between Argentina and Colombia was very dramatic and emotional. The most emotional player was still Lionel Messi, when he was constantly lying on the field due to injury before being unable to continue and being substituted in the 66th minute.
When Messi left the field, many Argentine fans in the stands burst into tears. Then the 37-year-old superstar also burst into tears like a child on the bench.
Returning to the match, Colombia, despite being underestimated, entered the match with determination and created more dangerous opportunities for most of the time. In the 5th minute, Colombia had a dangerous attack and Luis Díaz fired a shot but could not get past goalkeeper Martinez.
Just 1 minute later, Cordoba had a dangerous shot that hit the outside edge of Argentina’s goal post. In the 12th minute, Colombia had another dangerous situation, but Luis Díaz was unable to put the ball in the net.
It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Argentina had a chance. When Messi fired a shot in the Colombian penalty area, unfortunately his shot hit his teammate Alvarez and was caught by the Colombian goalkeeper.
In the 33rd minute, midfielder Jefferson Lerma (Colombia) had a very surprising and powerful long-range shot, but goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez had an excellent reflex to save the goal.
In the 49th minute, a mistake by Colombia’s defense almost gave Argentina a goal. But Di Maria failed to take advantage. In the 65th minute, Messi was injured and had to leave the field, after which he sat crying on the bench.
After Messi left the field, Argentina’s play became more fluid. But in the remaining minutes, neither team could score. And the match had to go into extra time.
In the 95th minute, from a very dangerous attack on the right wing, De Paul passed to Julián Álvarez who shot but it was too weak to get past Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.
In the 112th minute, from a quick counter-attack, striker Lautaro Martinez broke free and fired a cool shot past the Colombian goalkeeper, opening the score 1-0 for Argentina. That was also the final score of the match and Argentina successfully defended their championship title.
