Martinez’s wonderful end, his fifth purpose of the event, sealed an terrible match that had been affected by safety and crowd issues, necessitating an 82-minute delay.
After profitable the Copa in 2021 and the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Argentina has have three main event titles in a row.
Earlier than the festivities started, although, there have been tears. Within the 66th minute, Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi was damage and spent the rest of the match in agony on the sidelines. As well as, Angel Di Maria had an emotional send-off in his final match as a member of the nationwide staff.
It was a dismal night time for Colombia, whose lone championship got here within the 2001 Copa America, as not a lot appeared to go proper for Nestor Lorenzo’s squad.
Followers accused the shortage of an efficient admission system for the turmoil surrounding stadium entry, whereas organizers blamed supporters for making an attempt to enter with out tickets, as per AFP.
The circumstances had been regarding, with some supporters in vital situation on account of warmth exhaustion; nonetheless, the disaster was largely addressed and the sport was ultimately performed on when it was determined to rapidly fling open the gates with none safety checks.
Jhon Corboba of Colombia had a speculative effort that went simply huge of the publish within the seventh minute, however neither staff was capable of set up any momentum early on.
Within the 20th minute, Camilo Vargas of Colombia stopped Messi’s left-footed try after Di Maria despatched a low ball into the field.
Colombia appeared extra energetic within the first half, and so they had an opportunity within the 33rd minute when Jefferson Lerma tried a low shot from 25 yards out, forcing Emiliano Martinez to make a diving cease.
When Messi dribbled to the byline within the 36th minute, Santiago Arias’ sliding problem, which was judged honest, stopped him, elevating issues and necessitated medical consideration for the Argentine captain.
Messi then curled a free kick in from the left flank, however Nicolas Tagliafico’s header missed the mark. Messi at the moment performs membership soccer in Miami.
Colombian singer Shakira offered some leisure for the gang through the interval, however after that the primary half had been lackluster and did not get significantly better.
After Argentina didn’t cease a nook kick from James Rodriguez, the ball looped to Davinson Sanchez, who was unable to cease his header from going over the bar.
When Di Maria made certainly one of his signature runs in from the left, forcing Vargas to make a save, the Colombian goalkeeper turned the ball huge of the publish. That was lastly a number of the anticipated high quality.
Then, when Messi was operating in midfield, he tumbled down with out making contact with the ball. Clearly in ache, he left the sport within the 66th minute to get replaced by Nicolas Gonzalez, dealing a critical blow to Argentina’s probabilities.
Messi couldn’t comprise his feelings as he sat in tears on the sideline, suggesting that this may occasionally have been his last massive occasion.
When Tagliafico discovered Gonzalez within the space, the Argentine followers thought that they had gained when Gonzalez beat Vargas with a low drive, however the shot was disallowed for offside.
After a flick from Jorge Carrascal, Miguel Borja had a half-chance in further time, however a deserving winner sealed the victory.
With a well-timed deal with, Leandro Paredes gained the ball for Argentina in midfield. Giovani Lo Celso then discovered Martinez, who was transferring freely and confidently completed with a first-time cross that was ultimate for him.