2024-07-15 17:23:02
At 35 minutes into the match and the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami, there was silence. Lionel Messi was rolling around in pain on the floor. After making a wall pass with Julián Álvarez at the edge of the small area, the captain of the National Team feinted and went to the bottom. On the line, he tried to throw a cross. The ball went long and in the effort the 10 he twisted his right ankle. It was the beginning of the end of the Copa America final for the “Pulga”. Half an hour later he would take his place Nicolas Gonzalez.
The injury of Messi, who had been one of the most influential players in the match, changed the story of the final against Colombia. And left a postcard that will remain in football. The Inter Miami striker He broke down in tears on the benchheartbroken at having missed an important part of what was his tenth final with the blue and white.
The television images made it clear why the change and the crying occurred. In a close-up of Messi, sitting next to Leandro Paredes, His ankle is shown and what is seen is a well-known image For the Argentine fan: Leo’s foot increased in size until it had the same diameter as a tennis ball or, to be more precise, almost like a carbon copy of the ankle of Diego Maradona in the World Cup Italia 90.
Maradona’s injuryunlike Messi’s, was not so clear in a single play, but was the result of a match against Romania with pure kicks and hard friction. In fact, the team from southeastern Europe had three cautions in the first half hour of the match alone, and ended up rescuing a draw at 23 minutes of the second half after a goal from Peter Monzon.
But fate had a different ending for each of the cracks. While Messi finished watching the game on the bench and raising the glass after a goal in the 112th minute, Maradona witnessed what almost represented a historic World Cup double when They fell in the final against West Germany by 1 to 0 after having touched glory four years earlier, in Mexico 86.