Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau battles for possession with Lionel Messi during Argentina's 2-0 victory in the Copa America opening match in Atlanta on Thursday.
Canada held top-ranked Argentina scoreless in the first half but conceded a Julian Alvarez goal early in the second, eventually falling 2-0 to the star-studded South Americans in the opening match of Copa America on Thursday.Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau battles for possession with Lionel Messi during Argentina's 2-0 victory in the Copa America opening match in Atlanta on Thursday.
Messi got the last laugh with a perfect pass that found substitute Lautaro Martinez behind the defence and the Inter Milan forward deftly slid the ball under an onrushing Crepeau for an insurance goal in the 88th minute. Argentina went ahead in the 49th minute with Messi threading a dangerous ball into the Canada penalty box. Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister got to it first but could not corral it and the ball squibbed to Alvarez, who had an open goal in front of him.Messi almost made it 2-0 in the 65th, sent in alone by a fine clearance from Emiliano Martinez. But Crepeau blocked his shot and Messi's second attempt deflected off a defender.
Argentina arrived at Copa America with a 13-1-0 record since winning the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022, outscoring the opposition 32-4. The lone blemish was a 2-0 loss to Uruguay in World Cup qualifying play last November. They were to take part in the 2001 edition in Colombia, part of their reward for winning the 2000 Gold Cup. But they never made it there with Canada Soccer sending its players back to their clubs when CONMEBOL, on the eve of the tournament, postponed the event for security reasons only to reinstate it days later.
It was the same lineup that coach Jesse Marsch used in a scoreless draw against France in a June 9 warm-up in Bordeaux.The Argentine starting 11 featured five players from England's Premier League, three from Spain's La Liga, one from Italy's Serie A, one from Portugal's top flight and Major League Soccer's Messi.Argentina has not lost to a CONCACAF team at the tournament since 2004 when it was beaten 1-0 by Mexico.
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