England fans have grown accustomed to seeing their team fall at the final hurdle. The last four times the Three Lions have reached the semifinals of a major international tournaments, including the World Cup three years ago.
But not this time.
When Lionel Messi announced his international retirement after missing in the penalty shootout defeat to Chile at the 2016 Copa América Final, he disappeared into the New Jersey night with the crushing final words: “For me, the national team is over. I’ve done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion. It’s been four finals, I tried. It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn’t get it, so I think it’s over.”
It wasn’t.
Los analistas dirán que España perdió su paso a la final de la Euro 2020 porque no supo convertir en goles su 70 por ciento de posesión de balón y sus más de 900 pases. O porque Álvaro Morata está maldito. Y si bien algo tendrán de razón, hay un elemento que muchos olvidarán y que terminó siendo, quizás, lo más importante: la batería de trucos distractivos que desplegó Giorgio Chiellini ante Jordi Alba, en el sorteo de los lanzamientos desde los doce pasos.
Álvaro Morata’s Euro 2020 campaign then: Spain draws 0-0 with Sweden. Villain. Morata scores early against Poland. Hero. Morata misses a sitter against Poland and Spain draws again. Villain. Morata scores the extra-time winner against Croatia. Hero. Morata only lasts 54 minutes against Switzerland and is benched against Italy. Villain. Morata comes off the bench and scores the equalizer against Italy. Hero. Morata misses the decisive penalty kick in the shootout. Villain.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is the forgotten child of the soccer world. The only time fans really hear about the OFC is when it sends New Zealand to a World Cup qualifying playoff that it loses nine times out of ten, or the Oceania team that gets sent to the Confederations Cup.
Anyone else remember when poor Tahiti was forced to play Spain, Uruguay and Nigeria at the 2013 Confederations Cup? It takes a special team to finish with a -23 goal differential after three games.
There’s something enthrallingly stagelike about these Copa América knockout round matches behind closed doors. If Euro 2020 is acting as a celebration of the world moving forward with vaccinations, the Copa can be seen as a reminder of the pandemic’s enforced isolation mixed with unhinged personal tendencies.
Brasil es el primer finalista de la Copa América 2021. La verde-amarela derrotó a Perú en un partido más bien gris, iluminado apenas por una genialidad de Neymar, un acto de escapismo digno de Harry Houdini y que sirvió a Lucas Paquetá para convertir el único gol del partido.
With just over two weeks to go before the USWNT opens the group stage of the Summer Olympics against Sweden in Tokyo, manager Vlatko Andonovski — treating the send off series like a college senior — wanted to experiment with some things.
Namely, the scenario of “what if we put seven players in attack and got buck wild?” One feature of this particular setup was the presence of deep-lying midfielder Lindsey Horan taking her place alongside Carli Lloyd for the game’s opening period.
México barrió con Nigeria en un amistoso jugado en el Los Angeles Coliseum. El Tri venció por 4-0, en una noche especial para varios, pero sobre todo para Rogelio Funes Mori, quien marcó su primer gol como mexicano.
La imagen de Lionel Messi cabizbajo con la camiseta de la selección argentina no es rara. Sin embargo, en esta Copa América 2021, el 10 está haciendo todo lo que está en sus pies para borrarla. Messi está brillando en Brasil, con asistencias y goles que ya tienen a la Albiceleste en las semifinales del torneo.
Su último show fue en la victoria por 3-0 sobre Ecuador, en la que aportó con dos pases-gol y un magnífico tiro libre. Hasta le aplaudieron como cantó el himno nacional.