Argentine magician Lionel Messi begins his last quest for international glory, tomorrow, Monday, when Argentina begins its campaign in the South American Football Championship (Copa America) against Chile.
Argentina finished second in the tournament in 2015 and 2016, after losing in the final to Chile on penalties in both editions, before taking third place in the last edition of the competition in 2019, after losing in the semi-final against Brazil.
Despite beating Chile in the bronze medal match two years ago, it was difficult to swallow my final loss to Messi, who was not able to achieve the same success in his club career with his country.
Argentina
Argentina holds the record for the most goals scored in the prestigious tournament by scoring 462 goals in the tournament. Brazil in the gold square in the last tournament version.
Argentina drew with Chile and Colombia in their last two matches in the South American qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup in 2022, despite their progress in the result in both matches; But there appears to be a growing belief within the squad in coach Lionel Scaloni’s ideas.
“The truth is that the team is really good, the group is really good. We get to know each other more and support the plans of the coaching staff,” Argentina international Giovanni Lo Celso told the Argentine newspaper OLE this week.
“As we know, all the teams and matches in South America are very difficult. They are all balanced and very competitive, and we know that there are no easy matches. It will be a very difficult group,” added Lo Celso.
Chile’s preparations were affected by a foot injury to Alexis Sanchez, and the Inter striker was not expected to be in good shape until the Copa America knockout stage.
Chile achieved only 3 victories in the last edition of the tournament, and played only 3 matches this year under the leadership of Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte, who took charge last February.