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Argentina won their first major title since 1993 and Lionel Messi eventually won his first trophy for the national team.
Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in Saturday’s Copa del Rey final to win their first national team title in 28 years.
Argentina’s goal at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro came in the 22nd minute after Rodrigo de Paul made a long pass to Angel di Maria.
Veteran 33-year-old striker Renan Lodi took part in a sleazy left-back defense to take control and shoot Ederson in front of the goalkeeper.
It was only the third goal Brazil had conceded in the tournament.
Brazil accumulated pressure in an exciting second half, but even five strikers on the field were unable to equalize against the Argentine defense backed by the excellent Rodrigo De Paul.
Brazilian Neymar with Argentine Leandro Paredes [Amanda Perobelli/ Reuters]
Argentina’s win was a special victory for Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, who received his first title in a blue and white shirt for more than a decade after club and individual honors.
When the match was over, Messi burst into tears by some of his cheerful teammates.
Messi finished with four goals as the tournament’s top scorer and was chosen as the best player along with Neymar. But he was silent and with two minutes left he missed the golden opportunity to end the match.
When the last whistle was blown, Argentine television shouted “Argentine champion, champion Lionel Messi!”
The victory was the 15th victory of the Copa América in Argentina and thus, they achieve equality as the leader of all times who have been victorious with Uruguay.
The winning streak of unbeaten matches was extended to 20 under the command of Lionel Scaloni and Brazil suffered its first competitive defeat since losing to Belgium in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
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