Lionel Messi scores, Argentina beats Canada, reaches Copa America final

East Rutherford, NJ – The defining moment of Argentina’s final step toward a Copa America repeat was like the rest of the climb: simple.

it was not Easy, In the first of two Copa semi-finals, Argentina had to work, think and sweat at MetLife Stadium on Tuesday night. He sometimes had to face initial fears.

But they defeated Canada 2-0 to reach the final on Sunday. His clincher was perhaps Lionel Messi’s most subtle, clean goal to date, his first of the tournament. And their success, midway through the first half, was straightforward – literally.

This required only two passes, from the center back to the central midfielder, then from the central midfielder to the center forward. The first, from Cristian Romero to Rodrigo De Paul, was harmless. But the other found Argentinian-Canadian killer Julian Alvarez.

His first touch was very good. His second left Canadian defender Moise Bombito on the grass. His third beat goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau and put Argentina ahead.

It was Alvarez who scored the breakthrough just three weeks ago when these two teams met in the 2024 Copa America opener. That night in Atlanta, Canada, it lasted 48 minutes. Here it lasted only till 22.

In those 22 minutes, vulnerable people were terrified. He discovered the openness. He proceeded to the counter. He threatened.

But he did not have the quality to take advantage of opportunities. And once they agreed, they were ruined.

Messi almost put the Reds ahead just before halftime with a classic feint and right-footed shot.

About five minutes after intermission, he buried them.

Ironically, he left the mark at the 2024 Copa America with one of the most Cristiano Ronaldo goals of his illustrious career. He passed to DePaul. He continued his race. After some penalty-box pinball, he got his foot on an Enzo Fernandez shot and half-poked, half caressed it into the net.

He looked towards the assistant referee, unsure whether he was onside or not. But he was, so he jumped gently into Enzo’s arms, and felt a sensation he had not felt in an Argentine competitive game since October.

He had looked relatively pedestrian in the three games leading up to the 2024 Copa America. And apparently, Argentina had it too.

la albiceleste Looked weak in that opener against Canada. They needed a late and lucky goal from Lautaro Martínez to beat Chile. He rested the starting players in a meaningless group final against Peru. They needed a penalty shootout and a heroic goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to avoid Ecuador in the quarterfinals.

So he entered this semi-final as unproven as a world champion can be. Sometimes it seemed that he lacked aggressive ideas.

But they had enough to beat Canada again; They were sometimes sloppy but adequate.

They have a lot to do to reach the final of a third consecutive major tournament, where they will face their first powerful rivals of the summer, either Colombia or Uruguay.

Whether they have proven anything is still not that relevant. They are 90 minutes away from another title.