LIONEL MESSI CAUSES CHAOS TO HELP ARGENTINA BREAK CHILEAN HEARTS AT COPA AMERICA
Argentina faced an agonizingly familiar goalless scoreline against Chile in the 88th minute of Tuesday's Copa America game as Lionel Messi launched another promising ball into the mixer.
The Little Magician's corner produced a goalmouth scramble that fell perfectly to Lautaro Martinez, however, who buried his close-range finish that ensured Argentina didn't squander another brilliant Messi performance while clinching passage into the Copa America knockout stages.
The American appetite for Lionel Messi proved insatiable despite the attacking midfielder arriving in the MLS with Inter Miami nearly a year ago, received warmly on Tuesday by a sold-out Metlife Stadium filled largely with No. 10 jerseys. The record eight-time Ballon d'Or winner turned in a tremendous performance on familiar American soil as well, completing 32 of his 34 passes on the evening as the primary facilitator for Argentina's dominant offense.
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La Albiceleste controlled 61 percent of the possession over the Chileans and outshot their South American neighbors 22-3, nine of which ended up on Claudio Bravo's goal. Messi pulled the strings for this onslaught with five key passes, four of which connected with Argentine teammates in the penalty area, while completing all seven of his dribbles.
The first of these key opportunities came in the 22nd minute, as Messi fit a well-weighted through ball down the left wing to Nicolas Gonzalez, but an opportunistic, tight-angled shot missed wide and preserved the deadlock. Messi nearly opened the scoring himself 10 minutes later, unleashing a thunderous 30-yard strike that rooted Bravo to his spot and skipped agonizingly off the post and out for a goal kick.
Messi's most appetizing deliveries came as Argentina mounted further pressure in the second half, and a chipped free-kick delivery in the 56th minute found Alexis Mac Allister with the goal gaping. The Liverpool midfielder's opportunity yielded an expected goal output of 0.645, rivaling that of a penalty kick, but Mac Allister failed to make solid contact and skipped the ball harmlessly into the arms of Bravo.
Chile somehow found themselves with an opportunity to steal the game just a quarter-hour from full-time. La Roja recorded their first shot of the game in the 72nd minute, forcing Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez into a sharp reaction as he parried Rodrigo Echeverria's long-range, deflected effort away from danger. Four minutes later, a stiff right palm from Martinez was all that prevented Echeverria from rolling his subsequent 15-yard strike into the bottom left corner.
Argentina notched four more chances inside the final 15 minutes that produced an xG of at least 0.1, and Martinez finally found the breakthrough and secured a deserved victory for Messi and Argentina.
Chile will need a victory over Canada in their final group-stage match to secure passage into the Copa America Finals, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 29 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2 or UniMas. Meanwhile, Argentina finishes round-robin play with a match against Peru at the same time on FS1, virtually guaranteed to top the group barring a massive goal difference in either game.
2024-06-26T04:23:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd