عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Messi Looks to Lead Argentina to Record 16th Copa America Title

Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Rodrigo De Paul warm up during a trainning session ahead of the Copa America soccer final, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Rodrigo De Paul warm up during a trainning session ahead of the Copa America soccer final, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
TT
TT

Messi Looks to Lead Argentina to Record 16th Copa America Title

Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Rodrigo De Paul warm up during a trainning session ahead of the Copa America soccer final, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Rodrigo De Paul warm up during a trainning session ahead of the Copa America soccer final, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Lionel Messi is one win from leading Argentina to a record 16th Copa America title. Colombia will do everything in its power to make sure that doesn't happen in a matchup that pits the juggernaut against the surging force in the final.
It’ll happen Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium, which hosted two group stage matches and will be the site of seven games during the 2026 World Cup.
Ahead of the match, both sides expressed safety concerns after Uruguay’s Darwin Núñez and a handful of his teammates went into the stands amid a physical brawl between fans at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, after Uruguay’s semifinal win over Colombia.
Uruguay captain José Giménez said players went in the crowd to protect their families, and coach Marcelo Bielsa passionately criticized tournament organizers for not doing enough to safeguard families of players seated in the stands behind the Uruguay bench.
“I’m concerned about what could happen tomorrow,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said through an interpreter. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez added it “would be great if we could reinforce security.”
CONMEBOL said in a news release that “any action that tarnishes a global football celebration will not be tolerated.”
Argentina, winner of the Copa America in 2021 and World Cup in 2022, can join Spain from 2008-12 as the only countries to win three consecutive major championships. The Albiceleste made it to Sunday's final without a dominant performance from the 37-year-old Messi, who has battled a leg injury.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner zipped through defenders and created scoring opportunities for his teammates but he did not get a goal until deflecting Enzo Fernández's shot past Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau to help seal Argentina's 2-0 win in the semifinal.
Ahead of the final, Messi said he's battled discomfort at times throughout the tournament but assured it won't slow him down on Sunday.
“In the final I’m going to feel better,” he said in an interview with DSports.
Colombia will play in its first Copa America championship in 23 years after extending its unbeaten streak to a team-record 28 games, one more than from 1992-94 and the longest current streak in men’s international soccer.
James Rodríguez has been its best player and arguably the best in the tournament. He leads the tournament with six assists, the most in a single Copa America since data started being tracked in 2011 and surpassing Messi's five in 2021.
“James has had a great Copa America,” Colombia coach Néstor Lorenzo said through an interpreter. “We are lucky enough to have him at a very good level. The team has supported him. ... I can only hope that tomorrow his performance will be great.”
According to The Associated Press, Lorenzo praised his team's collective work in getting to this point, which included an emotional win over 15-time champion Uruguay, and thanked Colombian fans for their support — Colombia's matches, along with Argentina's, have been among the most attended.
But Lorenzo also stressed that this should be the norm for the resurgent team that won its only Copa America title at home in 2001.
“We’d love it if it wouldn’t be such a surprise to get to a final, so unexpected,” he said. “We’d like to be always on top. It’s not easy. ... Let’s hope this can last. Let’s hope we can keep on going.”
The sides faced each other in the 2021 semifinal, won by Argentina 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw. Colombia last beat Argentina in the Copa America group stage in 2019.
“We are going to play our game,” Scaloni said. “You always have a plan, but the final is always a stressful game, and the one who is under the least stress will win.”

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France's three-time Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada's Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love", in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

The 30-meter (98 ft) high balloon carrying a 7-meter diameter ring of fire took to the air and was hovering dozens of meters above the ground.

It will be in the air from sunset until 2 am local time every day, organizers said.

"We are so proud of this show, I'm so proud that sport and culture were celebrated in such a fantastic manner tonight, it was a first and the result was fantastic despite the rain," Paris 2024 organizing president Tony Estanguet told reporters.

A fleet of barges took the competitors on a 6 km-stretch of the river alongside some of the French capital's most famous landmarks, as performers recreated some of the sports to be showcased in the Games on floating platforms.

It was the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside a stadium, adding to the headaches for a vast security operation, just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed TGV rail network caused travel chaos across France.

"I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living in peace," International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach said as the ceremony came to an end at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition started on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday.

As the show started four hours earlier, a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke, resembling the French flag, was sent high above a bridge over the Seine as part of a show that included many postcard-like depictions of France, including a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge dancers on the banks.

A more modern image of the country was on display when French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most-listened to French female singer in the world, sang some of her biggest hits, accompanied by the French Republican Guard's army choir.

Nakamura's performance drew some of the ceremony's biggest cheers. Rumors of her inclusion had sparked a row over French identity, with supporters saying she represented the vibrancy of modern-day France while her detractors said her music owes more to foreign influences than French.

POURING RAIN

While the celebration of French culture, fashion and history was warmly cheered by many of the 300,000 spectators lining the river, hundreds were seen leaving early as the rain fell.

"It was good other than the rain, it was nice, it was different, instead of being in a stadium being on the river, so that's always a good thing - interesting, unique," said Avid Pureval, 34, who came to the Games from Ohio.

"Once you're wet, it's fine," he said. Still, he was heading back to his hotel after the French boat passed, long before the ceremony ended.

"It would have been better with sun," said Josephine, from Paris, sitting beside her 9-year-old daughter and who paid 1,600 euros ($1,736) for her seat.

With many world leaders and VIPs present, the ceremony was protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine's riverbed was swept for bombs, and Paris' airspace was closed.

Some 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers were deployed in a huge security operation in Paris for the ceremony. Armed police patrolled along the river in inflatable boats as the armada made its passage along the Seine.

WELCOMED IN TAHITI

A mix of French and international stars, including soccer great Zinedine Zidane, 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and three paralympic athletes were among the last torchbearers before the cauldron was lit.

It will blaze until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.

At the start of the parade, applause erupted for the Greek boat - the first delegation, by tradition - and there were even bigger cheers for the boat that followed, carrying the refugees' team. The French, US and Ukrainian delegations also got loud cheers.

The two most decorated athletes in the Games' history, Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals.

At one point, there was a live crossover to the early morning welcome ceremony at the surfing venue, 16,000 km away in the Pacific island of Tahiti.

ISRAEL DELEGATION

France is at its highest level of security, though officials have repeatedly said there was no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.

But since the last Games - the Winter Olympics held in Beijing in 2022 - wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense international backdrop.

Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and are given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics due to the war in Gaza, officials say.

The Israel delegation got some boos, but also a lot of cheers, as it sailed by spectators, Reuters reporters saw. Chants of "Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!" rose from the crowd as the boat passed.

Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy. But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and cast a shadow over his moment on the international stage.