Seventy-five minutes later than expected, plus thirty minutes of extra time, a Copa America champion emerged.
After fans breached security gates ahead of kickoff, including some entering through ventilation systems, Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the final in Miami Sunday to lift the Copa America trophy.
The first half ended at 0-0 with Colombia having most of the attacking flow. Emiliano Martinez had to make four saves in the 45 minutes alone after barely being challenged throughout the tournament.
Messi was mostly sloppy on the ball in the first half but still looked threatening whenever he had it, but Argentina collectively continued to struggle to generate offense.
The start of the second half was mostly the same up until the 66th minute when Messi, who had an injury scare in the first half, had to come off with what appeared to be an ankle injury he had wrapped in ice on the bench.
Messi was later seen on the bench in tears, with right winger Nico Gonzalez coming in to replace the 37-year-old.
The injuries continued for Argentina six minutes later when right-back Gonzalo Montiel needed to be replaced. Nahuel Molina, a similar profile, entered.
Neither nation could find the opener in the second, with Colombia needing to defend more than attacked compared to the first 45. Argentina generated some opportunities on cutbacks, but couldn’t break the net.
In the first period of extra time, Gonzalez, who threatened at the end of the second half, came close again in the 95th minute but his effort lacked conviction.
Colombia had to replace all six of its starting forwards and midfielders, which included tournament assist leader James Rodriguez, Luis Diaz, Jefferson Lerma and more.
The opener finally came in the 112th minute via substitute striker Lautaro Martinez. The Inter Milan star didn’t enter the game until the 97th minute, but got on the end of a line-breaking pass from fellow sub Giovani Lo Celso to log his tournament-leading fifth goal.
With the result, Argentina broke a tie with Uruguay for the most Copa America wins of all time with 16. La Albiceleste beat Brazil in the 2021 tournament before also winning the 2022 World Cup.
It also most likely marked the last game for Angel Di Maria for the national team, as the legendary Argentine forward will hang up his cleats and focus on just his club team.
Colombia, on the other hand, still have just one Copa America win, which came in 2001. Los Cafeteros had gone an incredible 28 games without a loss, which included 22 wins and six draws.
The nation’s last loss came in February of 2022 against…Argentina.
The USMNT’s hopes to advance were spoiled as they were knocked out of the Copa America tournament following a 1-0 defeat against Uruguay.