Lionel Messi’s latest quest for international glory in the twilight of his career got off to a smooth start on Thursday with Argentina’s 2-0 win over Canada in the Copa America opening match.
Despite winning accolades galore at club level from an early age, it took Messi until 34 to triumph with Argentina at a major international tournament, first lifting the 2021 Copa America and then the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Now, with fans wondering if this is his last dance on the big stage, Messi’s Argentina are red hot favorites to win a successive Copa America.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The stage appears set for Messi, who turns 37 next week.
Perennial rivals Brazil are on a poor run of form, while Argentina are brimming with talent, headlined by their captain, and the July 14 Copa final takes place in Florida, where Messi is ending his career with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
The victory over Canada on a below-par temporary grass pitch in Atlanta, Georgia, was not a vintage performance — the Argentina captain and talisman missed a couple of clear chances, although he also had a hand in both goals.
“The important thing is that we started with a win,” said Messi, whose team had started the last World Cup with a defeat by Saudi Arabia that was one of the all-time shocks.
“We struggled a bit in the first half and the pitch didn’t help either,” he added after his record 35th Copa America appearance. “We’ll always give our best, sometimes playing better, sometimes worse, but always fighting our hardest.”
It was Messi’s perfectly weighted pass to Alexis Mac Allister that made Julian Alvarez’s opener followed by another controlled through-ball to assist Lautaro Martinez’s second.
“When Lionel Messi gets going, everything looks easy,” Diego Provenzano wrote in Argentine daily Clarin.
Messi could yet make the 2026 World Cup, depending on how his body holds up, but coach Lionel Scaloni has urged fans to stop speculating about that and just enjoy the moment.
“It doesn’t make much sense to be thinking about when they are not here,” he said of Messi and veteran striker Angel di Maria. “Let’s enjoy them now. Then we’ll see what happens.”
Argentina next face Chile and Peru in Group A of the US-hosted tournament between 16 teams from the Americas.
With some, including France striker Kylian Mbappe, suggesting the Copa America is inferior to the also ongoing Euros, Messi noted that the tournament included teams with 10 World Cups between them — Brazil (5), Argentina (3) and Uruguay (2).
“There are a lot of world champions left out to say that it [the Euros] is the most difficult tournament,” he said.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their