Argentina vs Colombia Copa America 2024 Final: ARG vs COL Analysis - Lautaro Martinez Emerges Hero in Win

Add as a preferred source on Google

Argentina beat Colombia on their way to win the Copa America title for a record sixteenth time with the help of an extra-time winner by Lautaro Martinez at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, USA.

The match got delayed by one hour and twenty due to the attempts to enter by some ticketless fans. Though Messi had to leave the ground midway through the match due to injury, James Rodriguez and his team failed to capitalise on the chance. Also Read: Copa America 2024 Awards List

Ninety minutes were not enough to differentiate these two teams. It was in the 112th minute in the extra time when the top scorer of the tournament Lautaro Martinez scored the winner from an assist by Giovani Lo Celso.

Los Cafeteros came to the match with a 28-game undefeated streak but their magical run ended in the final. James Rodriguez, despite being named the Best Player of Copa America 2024 with one goal and six assists, was bettered by Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

In the first half, Argentina was heavily dominant and Angel Di Maria playing in Messi's role was quite impressive and got the chance to score two times. Manchester City star Julian Alvarez also got an early chance to put the defending champions in advantage but failed to score. On the other side, Lusi Diaz’s attempt got blocked by Emiliano Martinez and a shot from Jhon Cordoba struck the post.

In the second half, both teams switched to a more aggressive mode but neither of them was able to hold the leash of the match. In the meantime, Messi went down with an ankle injury in the 66th minute. In the 70th minute, Alvarez found the back of the net but the goal was ruled out due to an offside in the build-up. In this half, Colombia created their sole big chance of the match but it was not enough to dodge 'Dibu’ Martinez.

Nicolas Gonzalez wasted a good chance by submitting the ball straight to Camilo Vargas in the first half of the extra time. Minutes later Lautaro Martinez got the ball from De Paul and exchanged passes with Lo Celso, making no mistake to put it into the net.

As the 28-match unbeaten streak of Colombia came to an end they failed to lift the trophy for the second time. It would be a tournament to remember for Lautaro Martinez, as it was a tournament of redemption for the Inter Milan forward after a ton of criticisms in recent years.