Argentina opened their bid to defend the Copa America title with a comfortable 2-0 win over Canada in Atlanta.
Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored a goal each.
It was Alvarez's first ever-goal in the competition and his first for Argentina since his semi final brace against Croatia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Lionel Messi then somehow failed to score, much to the disbelief of the 70,564 Atlanta crowd, as Maxime Crepeau made a fine save, before Messi cheekily tried to chip the Canadian goalkeeper.
Fortunately for him, his defender Derek Cornelius blocked the effort and held Argentina to just a one-goal lead.
Messi made history by becoming the player with the most appearances in the Copa America — playing his 35th game across seven editions of the tournament, and surpassing the previous record held by Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone since 1953.
Messi's journey at this tournament began at the age of 20, and he has since gone on to win the title in 2021, finish a runner-up three times, and secure a third-place finish in 2019.
Argentina next face Chile in a rematch of the 2016 final at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday at 1pm.
Source: sportingnews.com
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