The Copa América 2024 will get underway this Thursday, with the match between the Argentine team and its counterpart from Peru. One of the most striking facts is that it will be held in the United States, but it will not be the first time that the North American country hosts this tournament.
Historically, the Copa América was hosted by South American countries. But in 2016, on the occasion of the centenary of its first edition, it was organized by the United States.
The Argentine team arrived at this tournament as the most regular, having reached the final of the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa América, but in the decisive matches there was always a lack of effectiveness (and luck).
With Gerardo Martino as technical director and Lionel Messi captaining the albiceleste, the national team practically had the obligation to end the 23-year drought without international titles.
They had a perfect group stage, in which they beat Chile, Panama and Bolivia. In the quarterfinals and semis, those led by Martino beat Venezuela 4-1 and the United States 4-0, respectively.
In the final the rival was Chile, as in the Copa América the previous year. Those led by Juan Antonio Pizzi had had an irregular performance, but from the quarterfinals onwards they showed a very good level.
The decisive match started very well for Argentina, who dominated and also benefited from the expulsion of Chilean midfielder Marcelo Díaz. But everything began to fall apart when Argentine defender Marcos Rojo made himself thrown out in a childish manner, putting Chile back in the game.
In this way, everything was decided on penalties after 0-0 in the 120 minutes. The definition from the 12 steps also started better for the Argentine team, since Sergio Romero saved his shot from Arturo Vidal. But Messi threw his penalty over the crossbar, catapulting the opportunity to take the lead.
Finally, Lucas Biglia also missed his penalty and Chile ended up winning the title again after the final 4-2.
This marked the third defeat in a final for the team in three consecutive years, which seemed to become a curse that would never end.
After the penalty shootout, Messi was seen as disconsolate as never before in his career. The star even announced to the press that he was resigning from the Argentine team.
Luckily for everyone, a few weeks later he reversed this decision and put on the light blue and white again to bring so much joy to Argentines in recent years.
