Chile has beaten Argentina in a penalty shoot-out in the Copa America final for the second time in two years.
Arturo Vidal got Chile off the the most inauspicious start possible in the penalty shootout when he had his opening penalty saved.
But then the impossible happened. In a shocking turn of events, Lionel Messi missed Argentina’s next penalty, failing to capitalize on Vidal’s miss and put Argentina ahead.
Every time Lionel Messi’s teammates step out onto the pitch, they must be thankful that the Argentine wizard is wearing the Blaugrana shirt. In this video from the official FC Barcelona YouTube page, Messi can be seen humiliating some of Barcelona’s biggest stars during training.
Big players come to play on the big stage. And that is sure what Messi did last Tuesday in case you missed it. After an early Argentina goal, it was Messi's turn in the 32nd minute to break American hearts and shatter their hopes of making the Copa America final on their home soil. The United States were sure excited to see Messi play in North America but were they expecteing a free kick of this difficulty and expertise. Of course they were, it's Messi, but what a treat it was to watch him play against the US.
Before they were playing in front of thousands of adoring supporters, before they earned the multi-million dollar contracts and endorsements, world famous footballers were just awkward teens like anyone else at that stage in life.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham are all world renowned for their skills on the pitch. As often as we like to delve into what made them footballing greats, their embarrassing pubescent years remained largely a mystery.
Until now. Check out the video and fun facts below.
Lionel Messi broke Gabriel Batistuta's Argentina National Team all-time scoring record in the most dazzling way possible: with a scorching free kick. La Pulga now has 55 career goals for La Albiceleste t Batistuta's 54.
The free kick put Argentina up 2-0 on the USA. The game finished 4-0, with Gonzalo Higuain scoring twice and Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring once. The best goal of the night, though, belonged to Messi.
Lionel Messi scored his 55th goal for the Argentina National Team, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta and becoming Argentina's single all-time leading scorer in a 4-0 victory over the USA.
Honestly, it was not as bad of a blowout as we thought is would be.
Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring in the third minute and Messi broke the record with a free kick just before halftime. Gonzalo Higuain scored twice in the second half and that was it.
Messi has grown a beard, and his beard is dope. All beards are sweet, but Messi with a beard is especially sweet.
A beard says something about you. Specifically, it says "I can grow hair on my face." I think growing hair on you face is awesome, but I'm a little bit biased.
Everyone capable of growing a beard should have one. I've always said that. But this isn't about me. It's about Messi and his dope beard.
Messi was the coolest already, but his beard has made him legendary.
Former Brazilian international Deco is one of the few people on the planet who has had the pleasure of playing on the same team as Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho. So when he says that Ronaldinho had more talent than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, we are forced to take him more seriously than we would almost any other person in the world.
Lionel Messi's name is Lionel Messi. His name is not Leonardo Messi. This much we know for certain.
USA Today, however, may not be as certain as we are.
Leonardo Messi, Argentina stand in way of historic run by U.S. soccer at Copa America. https://t.co/b63eXjVwUg pic.twitter.com/NZt8a4pH7c
Lionel Messi does it again for Argentina. His glory run at these Copa America games continued on Saturday night as he played a beautiful ball to set up Higuain for Argentina's first goal of the night. What a ball and what a finish by Higuain who has been brilliant. As soon as Messi stepped on the field in Argentina's third group play match, the level of play ramped up. The now 'scruffy' veteran has time and time again shown people why he is one of the greatest with his recent performances.