Messi's team won 2-0 in the final game between Argentina and Canada at the America's Cup. Did everything go smoothly and will it be possible to repeat the triumph? Download the sports betting app to bet on football and other sports!
Messi's Backstory
For Lionel Messi, participation in the ongoing America's Cup was the seventh of his career. Never before has this been possible for any footballer from Argentina, so we can safely say that one of the best athletes in the world has really come a long way. The first continental tournament in young Messi's career came in 2007. After almost seventeen years, his path can be assessed as thorny, but quite interesting. There were conflicts with managers over the support of the Brazilian national team, loss of confidence from Argentina fans and the legendary victory at the America's Cup three years ago. For the first time, Messi has won a league title with the national team, despite the fact that his record, according to the website 1win, includes a huge number of all sorts of victories.
It would seem that there are no open gestalts left for Lionel Messi other than the MLC championship, which doesn't look as prestigious as his past victories. But his motivation continues to drive the team to victory. That's why it's so hard to believe that at almost 37 years old, the legendary footballer is as good as his younger rivals.
Now in Messi's plans, which have not yet received official confirmation from the managers of the national team, is to participate in the World Cup 2026. Despite his assurances in Qatar, where the athlete stated that he no longer wants to participate in the world leagues and claim the championship, it is obvious that the footballer still has the fuse to win.
The request to win the America's Cup could become a reality. Recall that last year the trophy was carried triumphantly over his head around the stadium in Atlanta by Messi's close friend Sergio Agüero. Such motivation could be decisive for the player himself, despite the fact that he is going to base it on his current form and condition, rather than the desire to set a record at any cost. But the 35th meeting with Canada suggests otherwise. The crushing victory brought the opposing team to defeat for the first time in 71 years and put the reputation of the all-time leading scorer, Chile's Sergio Livingston, in jeopardy.
Tense Encounter
No one expected that the meeting with Messi with the Canadian national team will be simple. Experts at betting site 1 win compared the level of tension during the match with the game lost at the start against Saudi Arabia at the start of the 2022 World Cup. In the opening minutes, Di Maria demonstrated one of the killer transitions that knocked the Canadians out of their rut and allowed Angel to move from the centre of the pitch to the goal, virtually unopposed. Despite the fact that the ball was released too far, he was able to achieve his goal - to throw over the goalkeeper with a graceful slip. The soon-to-be-departed winger had already performed a similar trick in the 2021 Cup final, and it really worked again.
This, rather poignant moment, determined Argentina's further participation in the match. From there, everything went quite smoothly for the team and its captain. Messi showed a clean and beautiful shot that went past the far corner, but was met by a defender. A further interception allowed him to get in front of Alvarez's goal. Mac Allister moved onto a wing pass and attempted a header, but found no one to meet it at the goal. It was a good chance on goal for Canada, but not so sharp that Argentina's defenders couldn't anticipate it. Emiliano Martinez skilfully blocked Eustaquiu's potential goal almost point-blank and was able to make up for David's missed rebound.
The roster is truly stellar, so only Coach Scaloni can manage it. But it seems that it's time to shake up the players a bit to increase their motivation to win. The overall impression of the match leaves the following thoughts: somewhere it was just a miracle of luck. The situation with the second penalty and poor link in the passes is really depressing for a team with such potential. squandered a lot of chances. Despite Messi's joint second goal with Lautaro Martinez, there was no one-on-one play throughout the match. And with pretty standard interceptions, Otamendi failed to score twice.
Anyway, Argentina continues to participate in the championship in the status of the winner. Now the national team already has 15 trophies in its piggy bank, making it one of the continent's title-winning teams, along with Uruguay.