Lionel Messi (36, Miami) has set another record.

“Lionel Messi has set another record,” the Confederation of South American Football Associations (CONMEBOL) announced on its official website on Monday (June 21).

The Argentine national team defeated Canada 2-0 at 9 a.m. today at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, in the first match of Group A of the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024.

With three points, Argentina moved into first place in the group.

Argentina lined up in a 4-3-3 formation. Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi, and Angel Di Maria were up front, with Alexis McAlister, Rodrigo de Paul, and Leandro Paredes in the middle. Marcos Acuña-Lisandro Martinez-Cristian Romero-Nauel Molina formed the back four, with Emiliano Martinez in goal.

The first half ended 0-0 with neither team creating any threatening chances.

In the second half, Argentina struck first. In the fourth minute of the second half, Messi’s through ball was knocked down by a falling McAlister, 안전놀이터 추천 and Julian Alvarez slotted it home to make it 1-0.

In the 20th minute of the second half, Argentina had another chance.

Martinez flicked the ball across the box to a charging Messi, who found himself one-on-one with the keeper. Messi shot, but Maxime Crepo made the save, and from the rebound, he shot again, but this time, Derek Cornelius made the save. Messi wore a wry smile.

Argentina were disappointed again. In the 35th minute, Messi collected a loose ball on the edge of the box and drove into the box before firing a shot that narrowly missed the keeper.

In the 37th minute of the second half, Argentina failed to score again. Lautaro Martinez cut the ball back to Messi, who played it back to Lautaro. Lautaro took a shot, but it was saved.

Argentina finally found the back of the net. In the 43rd minute, Messi’s exquisite pass rattled the net as Lautaro finished with a straight right-footed shot.

The game ended 2-0 in favor of Argentina.

Messi, who played the entirety of the match, was a dominant presence. Messi may be 36 years old, but he’s still got the “football” in him.

In total, Messi had 67 touches on the ball, including one assist, six shots, 89% (39/44) passing success rate, five chances created, nine touches in the opponent’s box, one successful dribble, eight runs into the final third, and 100% (5/5) passing success rate in the medium to long range.

After the game, ratings site POTM rated the players on both sides. Alvarez, who scored the opening goal, was rated 7.7, McAlister, who assisted on the goal, was rated 8.2, and Lautaro, who came on as a substitute and scored the winner, was rated 7.0. Messi was once again the highest rated player for both teams with an 8.3 rating.

In this match, Messi reached another great milestone. It was his most appearances in the Copa America. “With his appearance in the match, Messi made his 35th Copa America appearance of his career, making him the most-capped player in the competition,” CONMEBOL said.

According to The Athletic, Messi was tied with Chilean legend Sergio Livingstone for first place on the list of most appearances before this match.

Both players had made 34 appearances.

“Messi has now made 35 appearances in seven Copa America tournaments,” says The Athletic. Messi has played at least four games in every edition of the tournament, including the last one in 2021, which Argentina won. The previous record was held by Livingstone, a Chilean goalkeeper who made 34 appearances in six tournaments between 1941 and 1953.”

“Messi played a total of 183 games for his country, scoring 108 goals and providing 56 assists, making him the all-time leader in appearances, goals, and assists. Messi’s 13 goals in the Copa America alone are the closest he has ever scored in the tournament, 카지노사이트 순위 trailing only Norberto Mendes (Argentina), who won the tournament in 1945, and Zinho (Brazil), who scored in all six editions.”

Argentina, who kicked off their Copa campaign with a convincing win over Canada, will next face Chile in the second round of group play on June 26th.