Watch: Lionel Messi reduced to tears as he’s subbed off by Argentina in Copa America 2024 final
Lionel Messi was reduced to tears as he was subbed off by Argentina in the Copa America 2024 final. The forward was dealt a non-contact injury that ended his tournament early, with La Albiceleste having to continue without their talisman.
The legendary Argentine playmaker sustained a knock when he was tackled during the first half, and it saw him spend more than a minute with the physios. He was lying on the grass on the side of the field as they administered treatment and was able to continue.
However, the knock seemed to become more of a problem, and when he accelerated to reach the ball after the hour mark, Messi fell to the pitch. It was quickly clear that he would be unable to continue as he was substituted for Nicolas Gonzalez.
When he got to the bench, the forward was seen in tears as the stadium stood in temporary ovation and adulation for the legend.
The match was 0-0 at full-time, but Lautaro Martinez scored the solitary goal in extra time as Argentina retained their Copa America crown with a narrow 1-0 win over Colombia.
Argentina legend Lionel Messi has been dealing with fitness concerns throughout Copa America
There have been concerns regarding Lionel Messi's fitness for Argentina in Copa America. It seemed as though he might be benched in their semi-final match against Canada, but Lionel Scaloni made it clear that he would play. He said (quotes via GOAL):
"99% of the time, [Messi] is fit to play. It's never happened to me that he's not fit to play. Every time he's come out on the pitch, he's fit to play. For [Canada], he's fit to play, without a doubt. It's a very easy decision for me, because it's a very frank decision, that if he's fine, he plays; and if he's not fine, he plays the last 30 minutes. It's that easy.
"When he's fit, he always plays. There are no doubts. Who would have any doubts? I'm the coach, so I have no doubts. I'm the one who decides and when I see that he's fit to play, even if he's not 100% fit, he's going to play. I take responsibility for that but I have no doubts."
These words may weigh a lot now, as Messi seems to have injured himself for an undetermined amount of time. It won't matter in the short term, though, as Argentina are Copa America champions once again.