In 2021, the Copa America was held at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time at the Rio Maracanã Stadium on July 11, and finally Argentina defeated the strong opponent Brazil 1-0 with Di Maria's pick-and-shoot goal. The Argentine's victory was the first World Series title after the 2008 Olympics, and the second Time in 28 years since 1993 in the last century, and it is worth mentioning that this is Messi's first World Series championship in the national team.
Argentina's cup-winning moment
After winning the Copa America, Argentina has won the Copa America 15 times, tied for first place with Uruguay. The record for 20 World Series titles has been reached in international competitions, including two World Cups (1978, 1986), 15 Copa America, two Olympics (2004, 2008) and one Confederations Cup.
The Argentine national team, which has achieved such impressive results, is already one of the most successful football teams in the world, but why does it still make people feel dissatisfied or give people a feeling of hatred for iron and steel?
For Argentine fans, there seems to be a saying that is no stranger: a first-class striker, a second-rate midfielder, a third-rate defender, a goalkeeper who is not in the mainstream. I don't know who said this, but it was widely circulated. Although it is not good, it is very much in line with the Argentine team, whether in the last century or in the present, it seems that this is the ability and level of Argentina's various positions.
No matter what era, the Argentine team has never lacked stars, especially in the forward position, it is the world's top, which makes other countries envious and makes other teams unattainable. From the ace striker Kempez, who helped Argentina win the World Cup for the first time in the 1970s, to Maradona, the "hand of God" who pushed Argentine football to the top of the world, to Messi, one of the most proud of the new century, which one is not the son of the chosen, which one is not the favorite of fans around the world. Speaking of Argentina's attacking line, from the trident of Maradona, George Baldano and Bruchaga when they won the championship in the last century to the trident of Messi, Aguero and Di Maria today, no matter in which era, Argentines have exerted the power of the trident to the extreme.
Such an enviable attack line, in the post-Maradona era, especially after entering the 21st century, Argentina, which has a plum king, has several times in the World Series, especially in the World Cup, it is still grainless, and the closest to the trophy is in the World Cup in Brazil 7 years ago, which is inferior to the German chariot to the runner-up. This may be one of the reasons why Argentine fans hate iron and steel, even if you have the world's top stars, even if you have the world king, but football is a whole, it has never been a one-man game, the best embodiment of the barrel effect principle, there is a short board in the team, it will be wirelessly amplified, the short board of the Argentine team is the defense, the defensive championship is not an empty word, it is the truth that has been practiced by generations.
Maradona, Son of God
Since entering the 21st century, if you want to find a first-class defense in the world, you will certainly not go to the Argentine team to find it, not jokingly saying that you would rather go to the African team to find the back line than to find the Argentine team, the African team's defender line is at least a strong body, the attitude is good. Argentina is not saying that he is the worst defender in the world, at least much better than the Asian team, but in the contrast of having the most perfect striker line, a small mistake in his defense will be infinitely magnified, which is one of the reasons why Argentina cannot achieve anything in the World Series.
In this era of stars flying, in addition to the attention of the forwards, in fact, the defenders and goalkeepers are also very memorable and loved by fans. You can't say that your position limits the future and limits the play, there are still world footballers in the back line, there are still final mvps, there are still the best players in the tournament.
Argentina in messi's early years
For Argentina, there have also been a large wave of good players in their defensive line, such as Heinze, Zanetti, Ayala, Lucas. Suarez, Galsay, Otamendi and so on, but they are not as well-known as their team forwards, or even as famous as defenders from other countries. Compared with Brazil at the same level, in addition to the production of strikers, Brazil's defender line is also enviable, such as Roberto. Carlos, Cavo, Nardo, Marcelo and Macon are all world-class defenders.
As a goalkeeper in the team's last line of defence, Argentina's goalkeepers also didn't seem to be very satisfied with the fans. Of course, in excellent football countries, there have also been goalkeepers, such as the Argentine goalkeeper Goyetchea in the 90s of the last century, who was appointed as a substitute in the 1990 World Cup, and saved a total of 4 penalties in this tournament to help Argentina reach the final with difficulty, but in the end unfortunately lost to West Germany to the second place. But Goyetchea then led the team to help Argentina win two consecutive championships in the Copa America in 1991 and 1993, and was worthy of being a goalkeeper.
Penalty killer Goyechea
In the new century, the world-class door gods seem to have no longer cared for Argentines, and the door gods active in world football are still in Europe, such as Spain's Saint-Cassie, Italy's Buffon, Germany's Neuer and so on.
Argentina has been able to win so many titles, it is no exaggeration to say that the Copa America has been held too frequently, 15 times from the Copa America, 15 of which have been won in 20 major competitions. The Copa America cannot be compared with the World Cup and the European Cup in terms of participating countries, attention and influence.
1. Participating teams. The Copa America has 12 teams participating in each tournament, including 10 South American teams and 2 non-South American teams (SOUTH American Football Federation has only ten teams), while the World Cup has only 32 teams per tournament (more than 100 countries and regions compete), and the number of European Cup teams has expanded from the previous 16 to 24 (more than 50 countries compete). Even with the Copa America, which has the world's football powers such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, the pressure on the team to qualify is still much smaller.
2. The time of the Copa America. This is a matter that many fans criticize, and the official answer is that the time of the event is uncertain, which is a bit of a drama. Compared with the European Cup and the World Cup, even the Asian Cup, which has the weakest football strength, is a fixed quadrennial, while the Copa America depends on the situation. Therefore, many fans jokingly call the Copa America the "Cup of the Week". In fact, as the oldest world competition, the Copa America is held for a period that is not related to the history of South America.
Since the first Copa America in 1916, it has been held once a year, which should be called the "Cup of the Year", and at the beginning only 4 teams participated. In 1928, uruguay withdrew due to the Olympic Games, the Copa America decided to postpone it for two years, and then in the 1930s, the war caused the Copa America to be suspended, and it was not resumed until 1935. There are one session per year, one session every two years, one session every three years, one session every four years, one session every five years, and even two sessions a year, such as in 1959 in Argentina and Ecuador. In the past ten years, the Copa America has been held 4 times in 6 years because it commemorates a hundred years of history, so the frequent holding of the Copa America is definitely not because it is for a certain country to work hard for a certain star, this is the Copa America, which is the God operation of the South American Football Association, consistent style, compared to two times a year, these six years and four sessions are not worth mentioning.
Copa América America Cup
In fact, I want to help the South American Football Association to say, the Copa America will be so frequent, in addition to the history, but also related to the geographical location and national factors, look at the South American Football Association only has ten cards in the hand, how to play soon, if the South American Football Association has like other continents, there are dozens or even hundreds of cards, then he played for a long time, how to play is much easier to deal with. You can do qualifiers like Asia like Europe, and then look at South America, there are only ten teams, how to combine that, it is really "difficult for smart women to cook without rice".
3. Attention and influence. There is no doubt that the attention of the Copa America is far less than that of the European Cup and the World Cup, if it were not for brazil, Argentina and many other traditional giants, excellent football culture, the Copa America may not be concerned. If Brazil and Argentina don't want the South American Football Association one day and join other continental football federations, then the Copa America will be completely cold. In addition, in the past decade, South American superstars have been decreasing, relying on Messi, Neymar, Aguero, Suarez and others to barely support the scene. And South American football like The flowing style of Luo Xiaoluo seems to be decreasing, and the South American style of football is more inclined to the European style, after all, the heat of the five major leagues has overwhelmed other leagues in the world, and the young talents of South America have also stepped into European football early. This also makes fans less enthusiastic about the Copa America, and also makes many sponsors and many brands discouraged.
So now you may have questions: what does so much talk about the Copa America have to do with Argentina? After all, Argentina has already won the championship.
It is because of the gold content of the Copa America that even Argentina, which has won 20 world championships and four consecutive Copa America, is still a long way from its neighbor Brazil, although brazilians have not won as many championships as Argentina in the Copa America, but they have five golden World Cups in their hands. Taking n Times copa America is not as good as taking a Hercules Cup, after all, the Hercules Cup is the core station to test the success of a football power and a superstar. Then Maradona, who also played to the top in club and national teams, is worthy of the ball king.
The golden Hercules Cup
The most anticipated double pride of this era has not been able to lift the Hercules Cup as desired, but they have not yet retired, and perhaps the legend will continue, just as it is expected.
Argentina and Messi, who have won the Copa America, are just a hurdle for the demanding Argentine fans and Messi fans. For Argentina and Messi, the goal is much more than this title, which is only the starting point, not the end.
Finally, I wish Messi can lead Argentina to the final at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, lifting the Hercules Cup, which has made up for the regret of not being able to win the cup 7 years ago.