“It’s time to hit” – Messi in return for Copa America and this time it’s personal

In the eyes of Argentina, with the exception of one more disappointment in the great international competition, the 2019 Copa America is always remembered as the moment when the usually calm and gathered Lionel Messi finally blew up its peak.

Shattered by what he and many of his compatriots saw as biased judges during the defeat of the Albiceleste semi-final in the hands of the hosts and potential winners in Brazil, The Barcelona star then saw a scary Chilean supervisor Gary Medel in the playoffs after going red on toes.

His subsequent comments to the press deserved him a three-month ban from CONMEBOL, as well as widespread praise from domestic observers who are not accustomed to a quiet superstar speaking his mind so freely.

“I felt like we had been robbed that we deserved to make it to the finals, and we didn’t have to be involved in this show,” Messi had said in refusing to attend the medal ceremony after Chile’s victory.

“We don’t have to be part of the corruption we’ve suffered in this tournament.”

Now, two years later, he’s back to the scene of his previous rage: and this time, as they say in Hollywood blockbusters, it’s personal.

This Copa America, Leon’s sixth with Argentina, has ended up in Brazil in a row with last-minute curious decisions.

The captain of the Albiceleste had originally been waiting for Group A of the competition to play at home only to see both Argentina and Colombia retire less than a month before the start of operations due to the severity of the Covid epidemic and social unrest, respectively.

With a few options on the table, Copa returned to Brazil for another live version.

Thus, the reigning champions will not benefit from being encouraged by thousands of fans as a result of the pandemic, but after winning the last nine races on the last Sunday. The Venezuelan party’s loss of 3: 0 missing 12 players through the virus looks even more spectacular this time.

What about Argentina’s potential? Albiceleste, which is opening its Group A campaign against Chile, will go to Copa behind two World Cup qualifiers in June.

Lionel Scalon’s men took the lead against both Chile and Colombia, through a former Messi penalty, bypassing Barca’s old teammate Claudio Bravo, before they were tied back and had to settle for a point.

Despite the fact that no victory has been recorded in their two matches so far in 2021, there is reason to be optimistic about the Argentine camp.

In front of Aston Villa star Emiliano Martinez’s appearance at the finish line and Atalanta’s Cristian Romero added new steel and class to the nation’s historically problematic area.

Romero will lose the Chilean match due to injury, but will return later in the tournament, while Martinez recovered from a terrifying Colombian Yerry Mina as welcome as any South American football to a rough and collapsing crowd, and is scheduled to stay ahead of Franco in the Armanant pecking order.

It’s still a team that comes together gradually and has a lot of flaws, but despite the lack of some stellar power from Argentina’s previous big sides, the 2021 edition may cause a few surprises in Brazil.

Messi, on the other hand, has looked comfortable and relaxed despite the obvious physical jump back to international football after a busy club schedule.

Only a series of top-notch savings from Bravo and Colombia No. 1 David Ospina prevented him from taking the anger in the qualifiers, and it looks like he’s excited about the experience of playing alongside a new Argentine team based on the abilities of relatively new entrants like Leandron. Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul and offensive partner Lautaro Martinez as well as the above couple.

As for Medel, the contestants showed no lingering resentment from the previous dust, smiled and posed for the photos together after the match; while ‘Pitbull’ even made his former sparring partner’s shirt.

While we’ve got new faces that we’ve been playing on one team for a while and the team’s style of play is pretty clear, Messi informed reporters on the eve of his team’s Copa debut.

That’s why it’s time to hit this Copa. We know it’s going to be a special, different Copa, because of everything that’s going on in the world, but we’re ready to compete.

Monday’s opening marks the beginning of what will hopefully (from Argentina’s point of view) be a long, hard blow to the trophy. Over the next two weeks, Scalon’s men will rise to the field four times. There are fierce clashes against Uruguay and Paraguay in Group A before the closure against Bolivia.

Although only one team of five drops from each group, the margin of error is still small. If Argentina slips and fails to make it into the top two, they are likely to have a daunting chance of welcoming Brazil in either the quarterfinals or the semifinals, the encounter with the nation will save much more from the decisive clash of the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

The idea that they depend on Mess’s abilities on the way to the tournament is often rejected by the man himself over the years.

The national team has never been dependent on me, he shot. We have always tried to put together a strong team to achieve our goals. Gradually we have become strong as a team, we have been working for some time with many of the same players and the same ideas.

We have already had one Copa America, and many players now have this experience, we are still on the right track.

While most of the players who won and lost these three consecutive World Championships and Copa America Finals in 2014-2016 have either retired, they have fallen out of favor and have been transferred to a marginal role, as in the case of Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero Mess. is still necessary for Argentina’s plans as she prepares to celebrate her 34th birthday.

Still desperate to win his first international title, he may find that the odds are longer than ever the following month. But anything is possible with the Barca wizard on the team, and the whole of Argentina would like to see him channel the fire that was lit in 2019 and use it to avenge Brazil this time.