Martínez inspires Argentina to historic Copa América title in chaotic final
A dramatic extra-time winner from substitute Lautaro Martínez secured Argentina the Copa América title, beating Colombia 1-0 in a thrilling match in Miami.
The Golden Boot winner’s fine strike in the 112th minute sealed a brilliant match that had simply lacked the finishing touch until his arrival in the 97th minute. Martínez collected Giovani Lo Celso’s pass and fired the ball past a brave Camilo Vargas into the Colombian goal.
It was the striker’s fifth goal of the tournament, in a match that saw Lionel Messi sent off injured midway through the second period. Messi, in tears as he left the field, returned to lift the trophy for the third straight major tournament after a long drought that threatened to define his international legacy.
The victory gave Argentina a record-breaking 16th Copa América win, moving them one clear of Uruguay. However, the joyous scenes on the pitch were marred by harrowing scenes of organisational chaos outside the Hard Rock Stadium, as police and stadium security struggled to deal with the crowd outside, forcing kick-off to be delayed by over an hour.
The match, scheduled for 20:00 local time, eventually kicked off at 21:22, with both teams looking to make up for lost time. Argentina’s Julián Álvarez, who strangely preferred to start ahead of Martínez in attack, fired a volley wide after 45 seconds. Colombia also showed an attacking intent that never relented, with Jhon Córdoba’s clever chest-and-volley hitting the post after six minutes.
The match was billed as a battle between experienced stars Messi and James Rodríguez, but it was Liverpool’s Alexis MacAllister who expertly linked the defending champions’ play, while Anfield club-mate Luis Diaz’s powerful run drove a sharp Colombia forward. The upper hand often wavered, but the underdogs prevailed in the first period with some fantastic passing football. A searing 25-yard drive from Jefferson Lerma forced Martinez into a full-body save to tip the ball onto the post.
Messi looked certain to score in the 20th minute, but a shot from Ángel Di María’s pullback deflected off Álvarez on its way towards goal. But Messi’s troubles began in the 36th minute when a foul from Santiago Arias left him writhing on the ground, clutching his right ankle. He apparently couldn’t shake the injury.
With both sides continuing to create half-chances in the second half – including a left-footed shot from Di María that forced a great save from Vargas – Messi stumbled to the ground in the 65th minute, without any challenge. The captain’s armband went to Di María, 36, playing his 145th and final match in an Argentine career that has included six Copa América tournaments. He too would leave the field in tears, albeit for different reasons, in the 115th minute.
Colombia had a strong appeal for a disallowed penalty in the 72nd minute when Córdoba and Mac Allister went for the same ball before Argentina had the ball in the net through Messi’s replacement Gonzalez. The overlapping Nicolás Tagliafico was caught offside in the build-up.
Gonzalez, more impactful than Messi, leaped high to head Di María’s cross back over the goal, but Álvarez failed to gamble on what would have been a tap-in as the 90 minutes ended. In extra time, Gonzalez forced a huge save after poking Rodrigo De Paul’s cutback towards goal. Vargas quickly covered the ground to smother the ball on the goal line.
Even in the hot and humid conditions, it was an endless and energetic extra-time, with neither side looking inclined to settle for penalties. It felt like a winner would come and, before the end, Martínez duly delivered. Colombia made a great contribution to the final, but are left with regrets about the absence of such a clinical finisher.
However, the scenes outside the stadium on Sunday night threaten to overshadow the event entirely. Organisational concerns have plagued the tournament, but the worst was saved for the final. A wave of thousands of fans remained crammed outside the stadium in scorching temperatures and humidity. Videos posted on social media showed some fans storms through securityothers were stuck at the gates as children were lifted out of the chaos. A lot of fans looked visibly saddened by the ordeal. Videos showed people trying enter the stadium through ventilation openings or climb over an outside fence.
Stadium officials closed the gates at the entrance, blaming “thousands of fans without tickets who attempted to enter the stadium, putting other fans, security and law enforcement at extreme risk.”
Tickets had changed hands on the secondary market for as much as $2,000 on Sunday. But there was no proper stadium perimeter and no advance ticket check. As organizers pleaded with ticketless fans to leave the stadium, Fox Sports reported that the families of Argentine players were among those caught in the chaos.
Between 20:15 and 20:30 the gates opened again and the stadium quickly filled up. It had simply become too dangerous to keep the gates closed any longer. It is not clear whether there were ticket checks, but given how quickly the seats eventually filled up, it seems likely that some parts of the stadium they didn’t.
The tournament was organized by Conembol with little input from officials on the ground in the US. But with the World Cup co-hosted by the United States and only two summers away, important assessments will have to take place to ensure scenes are not repeated under FIFA’s watch.