Netflix’s documentary titled ‘Champions of America’ has shown how Lionel Messi charged his teammates to 2021 Copa America glory.
Argentina emerged champions of America after defeating hosts and perennial champions Brazil to the Copa America trophy in 2021.
Lionel Messi won his first major trophy with the national team, but the story behind the much-vaunted glory has remained off the spotlights.
The French Ligue 1 star was at the center of the epic celebration after enduring a dry spell with the national team, with no major trophy.
The record Ballon d’Or winner put up a great performance on-pitch and off-pitch and pushed the team to the finals, and eventually to the trophy.
Apart from his on-field contributions to the squad, a Netflix documentary compiling Argentina’s historic journey to the 2021 Copa America glory has revealed the role Lionel Messi played off-pitch to power the team to the crown at the Maracana stadium in Brazil.
Footage has shown Lionel Messi actively involved in steering the team and encouraging them to go out there and get the result against the Brazilians.
Lionel Messi’s could be heard in a pre-match team talk ahead of the final against Brazil urging his teammates to play fearlessly.
The seven times Ballon d’Or winner tells his team to ‘go out confident and take this one home.’
Argentina won their first Copa America trophy since 1993 after beating Brazil 1-0 in 2021.
In the Documentary, Messi can be heard saying: ‘There is no such thing as coincidence, you know what? This cup was supposed to be played in Argentina.
‘God brought it here, brought it here to raise it in the Maracana, to make it more beautiful for all of us. Let’s go out confident and calm and we’ll take this one home.’
The match was a crucial moment in the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s career given the fact that it was one of the very few trophies that had managed to allude him.
He’d previously finished runner-up in the competition three times prior to their iconic win over Brazil last year.
Angel di Maria opened the scoring for Argentina in the 22md minute, giving the team the lead after a deft chip over Ederson.
Brazil came close to replying when now-Spurs forward Richarlison rifled an effort at goal in the second-half but Emiliano Martinez was equal to the effort.
Messi then had an opportunity to wrap up the game when he faced Ederson one-on-one but he failed to get the ball out of his feet and tripped over.
In the end, it didn’t matter as Messi’s national team-mates sprinted over and embraced after finally getting their hands on the trophy.
Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the trophy after he had lost in three previous finals.
Messi is currently preparing for his last ever World Cup and potentially his last ever international tournament with Argentina.
Victory in Qatar would be the perfect way for the football great to sign off his international career – since he’s never won the trophy.
Argentina came so close in 2014 when they reached the final in Brazil but were beaten 1-0 by Germany after extra-time.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer by some distance and holds numerous other goalscoring records, both at club and international level since he made his debut for the national team in 2005.
Messi now has 90 goals in 164 appearances for Argentina. He is also second, behind Ronaldo, on the list of top active international goalscorers and is followed by India captain Sunil Chhetri, who has 84 goals in 131 matches
