Messi had to lie on the field no less than twice under the care of medical staff, after fierce tackles by Canada’s players in the opening match of the Copa America with Argentina winning 2-0, on June 21.
In particular, the ball can be said to have caused horror for Argentine fans and press when Bombito (Canada) player made an extremely dangerous tackle and stepped straight on Messi’s foot while passing the ball in front of the penalty area in the 83rd minute of the match. . The kick was so strong that the famous Argentine player collapsed on the field and writhed in pain.
Luckily, after being cared for by medical staff for nearly 3 minutes, Messi stood up and continued to return to play. After that, he contributed a beautiful assist for Lautaro Martinez to score the goal that sealed the 2-0 win for Argentina in the 88th minute. Before that, Messi also contributed by creating a situation for Mac Allister to assist. striker Alvarez scored the opening goal 1-0 in the 49th minute for the home team.
According to Marca newspaper (Spain): “The moment Messi fell in pain caused nearly half of Argentina to hold their breath in worry.” Diario Ole (Argentina) newspaper also expressed: “Every Argentinian fan’s heart stopped beating when Messi was cut down and bruised.”
However, Argentina fans can breathe a sigh of relief because Messi finished the match without showing any signs of injury. He happily exchanged shirts with player Alphonso Davies, star of the Canadian team. Alphonso Davies is play ing for Bayern Munich Club, admires Messi very much and once framed the PSG club shirt that this famous Argentine player gave him when playing in the Champions League two seasons ago.
Messi shared about situations where he was always closely marked and dangerously tackled by the opponent: “We knew this would be a difficult, very tense match. In the first half, we did not have enough space to deploy. playing style because the opponent was always close. Luckily, we quickly scored a goal at the beginning of the second half. But even so, everything was still complicated. All the opponents changed their style play when they play against us.”
According to Coach Scaloni (Argentina team): “The field’s grass surface is not really good, which has had a lot of impact on our playing style. We have known for the past 7 months that we will play here and they will play. The turf was replaced just 2 days before the match. This stadium is much different than where we played in the 2022 World Cup with better conditions.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez reacted: “The grass surface is a disaster. They covered the artificial turf with grass, and it feels like you are hopping every time you receive the ball. The feeling when dribbling the ball is as if it were there.” obstacles on the field. However, we overcame these obstacles to advance and win, although not easy, but very worthy.”
After a victorious start to the perfect start to the campaign to defend the Copa America championship, Messi and the Argentina team will play their next match against Chile at 8:00 a.m. on June 26 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
A very great role model Messi
A very great role model Messi