DBasia.news – The Argentine National Team has successfully reached the 2021 Copa America final. Lionel Messi is also optimistic that he will be able to end the Albiceleste curse in this tournament.
Argentina ensured themselves to qualify for the final after beating Colombia in the semifinals. The match which took place at the Estadio Nacional de Brasilia, Wednesday (7/7) am, WIB, had to be decided on a penalty shootout.
The two teams drew 1-1 until normal time ended. Lautaro Martinez’s quick goal was answered by Luis Diaz in the 61st minute.
In the high-fives round, Argentina appeared more prepared. Three of the four kickers for the Tango Team, including Messi, have carried out their duties well.
Meanwhile, only two of Colombia’s five penalty executioners have scored. It made the penalty shootout ended with the score 3-2 for Argentina.
Emiliano Martinez became the star of Argentina’s victory. The Aston Villa goalkeeper managed to hold off three of Colombia’s shots in the penalty shootout.
Martinez’s toughness under the bar made Messi confident in the final match. He did not care even though Argentina had to face Brazil in the final party later.
“We have Emi, who is a phenomenon. We believe in him,” Messi said after the game.
“We achieved the goal of being able to play all the games and now we are going to the final.”
Martinez’s Key Role
Martinez is a new name in the Argentina squad. The 2021 Copa America was his debut in a major tournament.
Martinez was only called up to the Argentina squad last month. It can’t be separated from his slick appearance with Aston Villa in the last season.
Despite his lack of experience, Martinez has the potential to be a differentiator for Argentina. He seemed to be the answer to the longing of his country’s public and Messi to have a tough goalkeeper under the bar.
For information, Messi has brought Argentina to the Copa America final three times. But not once has he been able to present the championship trophy.
In 2007, Argentina lost to Brazil by a landslide score of 0-3. At that time, Messi was not really a focus as he was still a young player.
A different story was presented when Argentina advanced to the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals twice in a row. At that moment, Messi was the captain and leader of the team.
Ironically, the two final matches also ended in failure. Argentina always lost to Chile in the same way, namely on penalties.
On those two occasions, Sergio Romero always stood guarding the goal of Argentina. But he failed to carry out his role well.
In the 2015 edition, Romero was not even able to hold off four of Chili’s penalty takers. While a year later, the Manchester United goalkeeper could only make one save.
It is possible that the 2021 Copa America final will also end in a penalty shootout. The strength of Brazil and Argentina is relatively balanced.
If that happens, Messi and other Argentine players would not have to be traumatized by the failure in the previous two finals. They now have Martinez who is ready to thwart the Brazilian executor.