Argentina finally claimed the Copa America trophy for the first time since 1993 as they saw off Brazil by a 1-0 scoreline in the final at the Maracana stadium.
Angel Di Maria’s strike in the 22nd minute was enough to cause damage to Tite’s side and end the Albiceleste’s run of failures in major tournament finals.
It was far from a classic, with the match not living up to expectations, but Lionel Scaloni and his men will be delighted to end Argentina’s 28-year wait for the Copa America trophy.
Lionel Messi also saw his drought without an international title finally come to an end. The Argentina captain had had to endure three previous major finals heartbreaks.
Argentina owe the only goal of the game to the vision of Rodrigo De Paul who released a perfectly weighted pass from inside his own half to release Angel Di Maria on the right flank.
The PSG man who had often been relegated to the bench for most of the tournament, made no mistake in chipping the ball over an onrushing Ederson.
The hosts tried to find their way back into the tie but couldn’t find the quality to trouble their opponents’ defense.
Early into the second half, Richarlison thought he had grabbed an equaliser for his side with a rebound finish but his effort was ruled out for offside.
A few moments later, Argentina’s shot stopper and penalty hero, Emiliano Martinez, was on hand to stop the Everton forward’s effort on goal.
Messi almost doubled his side’s lead after he was picked out by de Paul. The new Atletico Madrid summer signing could have grabbed his second assist of the night but it was not to be as the little magician was unable to connect cleanly with the ball to get his shot away. It opened up the avenue for Ederson to collect the ball from his feet.
Neymar and the Brazil attack huffed and puffed but neither one of them could get their names on the scoresheet. The match ended with despair for the Selecao and delight for their counterparts.
Despite not scoring or assisting in the final, Messi was perhaps the happiest man on the pitch as he finally delivered the long awaited Copa America title for his country.
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