If Lionel Messi thought the best way to avoid further abuse from the country of his birth in perhaps the most painful moment of his professional career was to immediately retire from international football, he was right.
Category: Copa America
Leo Messi misses penalty in Copa America Centenario final, becomes saddest man in the history of existence
After a grueling 120 minutes, the last 78 of which were played 10v10, Chile and Argentina went to penalties in a Copa America final for the second straight year. Sergio Romero gave Argentina a huge boost by saving Arturo Vidal’s shot to start things off, but then the unthinkable happened: Leo Messi missed the goal entirely. Argentina went on to lose the shootout. Again.
DTotD: Ezequiel Lavezzi tackled by advertising board, breaks elbow
It turned out the pitchside advertisements put up more of a fight against Argentina than the U.S. did in their Copa America semifinal. Ezequiel Lavezzi, who opened the scoring in Argentina’s 4-0 win with a 3rd-minute goal, fell backwards over the pitchside board in the second half and broke his elbow.
The injury will prevent Lavezzi, who scored twice in the tournament, from playing in the final.
The advertisement went unpunished. It had just as many shots on goal as the U.S.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
Lionel Messi breaks Argentina scoring record with absolutely perfect free kick against the U.S.
Going into the Copa America Centenario semifinals, there was a lot of optimism in the U.S. Once the home side made it through the group stage, there was a sense that anything could happen. Unfortunately for them, it was Lionel Messi that happened.
Fox attributes Copa America yellow card to U.S. women’s team keeper
@BrooksDT @MenInBlazers even FS1 doesnt want to see Wondo playing pic.twitter.com/gGCWhDRby9
— Lou Dilonardo (@ndloud50) June 22, 2016
Things went very bad very fast for the U.S. in their Copa America semifinal against Argentina. They conceded a goal within the first five minutes and looked completely bewildered from then on — a state that apparently extended to broadcaster Fox, who attributed a yellow card for Chris Wondolowski to U.S. women’s team backup goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
Chile beat Mexico 7-0, Brazil and Mexico become sadness buddies
It was all going so well for Mexico. Manager Juan Carlos Osorio hadn’t lost in his first 22 matches in charge of the team, leading them to the quarterfinals of Copa America Centenario to face a Chile team they beat 1-0 in a friendly just before the tournament began. And then they lost to Chile in that quarterfinal match 7-0 (SEVEN GOALS TO NO GOALS).
Venezuela’s attempts terrible Panenka at even worse time
You’re down 2-0 to mighty Argentina in the Copa America quarterfinals. You’ve been awarded a penalty and now you have a golden opportunity to cut your opponents’ lead in half and turn the momentum. If you’re Venezuela’s Luis Seijas, a man who is completely insane, this is a perfect opportunity to show off your nonexistent Panenka skills.
Naturally, Argentina keeper Sergio Romero caught this abysmal attempt with the minimum effort possible and now Seijas is an international laughingstock.
It takes big brass balls to attempt a move like this at a time like this. Unfortunately, Seijas made it look like he was kicking a big brass ball, too.
Michael Bradley wears rainbow armband to show support for Orlando
Michael Bradley wore a special rainbow captain’s armband bearing the U.S. team’s “One Nation” motto for their Copa America Centenario quarterfinal against Ecuador as tribute to the victims of the gay nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 people dead.
Fans of both nations attending the match in Seattle showed their support for Orlando with flags and signs as they entered the stadium.
Leo Messi’s Argentina teammates think his beard is the key to finally winning a trophy
Lionel Messi only played a total of 74 minutes in Argentina’s three Copa America Centenario group-stage matches. This was still enough to make him the competition’s joint-top scorer with (eliminated) Brazil’s Philippe Coutinho, but his three goals aren’t the reason his Argentina teammates think he is the key to them finally winning a trophy after two consecutive near misses. In fact, it has nothing to do with his otherworldly skill at all. It’s all down to the new hair on his face.
Tecatito Corona scores Messi-like equalizer against Venezuela
Down 1-0 to Venezuela, running out of time, and facing the prospect of playing Argentina in the quarterfinals, Mexico needed a goal to equalize and win group C of Copa America Centenario. So 23-year-old Tecatito Corona cut through the entirety of Venezuela’s defense to score the needed equalizer in the 80th minute.