Originally posted on Top-soccer.com
After three weeks of football, the stage is finally set for a thrilling Copa America final as reigning champions Argentina take on a determined Colombia side in Miami on Sunday. Argentina will be aiming to win their 16th Copa America, which will see them become the most successful team in this tournament’s history, while Colombia are seeking to win their first title since 2001.
Although the talismanic Lionel Messi has not had the impact he would have liked, the 37-year-old finally opened his Copa America account during his team’s 2-0 win over a plucky Canada side in the semi-finals. Argentina have shown, however, that they are more than just Messi as other players, such as Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, have really stepped up to help with the goal-scoring responsibilities, and now, Lionel Scaloni’s troops, who are also the reigning World Cup winners, have a great chance to make it a third major title in just three years. That’s after winning, of course, the last Copa America in 2021, followed by the aforementioned FIFA World Cup in 2022. If one includes the recently resurrected Artemio Franchi trophy, which is now known as the Finalissima or the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Nations, a win for Argentina on Sunday will make it four trophy wins in just three years.
Not a bad record for current Argentina boss Scaloni, who took over the team in 2018. At just 46, Scaloni, who mostly played as a right-back and occasionally a midfielder during his career with clubs like Newell’s Old Boys, Deportivo La Coruña, West Ham, Lazio, and Atalanta, has seen a total revival of an Argentina side who had failed to really make the grade in recent years – despite the quality of players at its disposal. Under his tenure, Argentina have become a mostly well-oiled unit, and have shown great fortitude to rally back when facing adversity. They have also been able to change from a team that totally depended on Messi to a team that is showing some signs that they just may be able to continue keeping the flag flying when the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner finally does hang up his boots.
Defensively, they have also looked quite solid, especially thanks to the strong showings of Emiliano Martinez in between the posts. The Aston Villa goalkeeper does attract a fair share of criticism for some of his antics on the pitch, namely during penalties, but even his harshest critics do have to admit that he is a vital and integral part of Argentina’s success over the past few years.
Standing in Argentina’s way as they seek to make it a 16th Copa America – which will help them pull ahead of fellow all-time winners Uruguay in terms of most successes in this contest – will be Colombia. La Tricolor have been in absolutely imperious form over the past two years, with their last loss taking place back in February 2022. Ironically, the last team to beat them was none other than Argentina. Since Nestor Lorenzo took over in June 2022, Colombia have gone a whopping 28 matches sans defeat, which is a new record for this side.
So far at the Copa America, Colombia have been quite impressive. They topped their quartet by two points after picking up 2-1 and 3-0 wins over Paraguay and Costa Rica respectively, meaning that a one-all draw against Brazil on the final matchday was all they needed to head into the round of 16 as group winners. That earned Lorenzo’s team a very comfortable draw in the first knockout rounds, where Colombia cruised to a 5-0 win over a Panama side who really did not pose any real competition.
Pitted against Uruguay in the semi-finals, Colombia managed to battle to a 1-0 win over the 15-time Copa America winners despite having to play well over half of the game a man down following Daniel Muñoz’s first-half dismissal. Skipper James Rodriguez has been a vital part of the team’s run to the final, and will be part of a midfield that also contains key players like Mateus Uribe and Jefferson Lerma. They, along with Liverpool’s Luis Diaz and others, will all need to be on top of their game if they want to successfully deny Argentina a chance at making history on Sunday.
Given that Argentina were the last side to beat Colombia over two years ago in February 2022, Los Cafeteros will have even more added incentive to defeat their bitter rivals in Miami on Sunday evening. Will Colombia’s long-standing unbeaten streak – which is the longest in international football at the moment – come to an abrupt end as Argentina continue to write history? Or will Los Cafeteros exact sweet revenge on a very familiar opponent, and in doing so, end their long wait for a major title?
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