Not winning
a major trophy for decades can make even the biggest of teams and the best of
players doubt themselves. Liverpool fans can attest to the same. But after
28 years of pain and heartbreak, Argentina have finally conquered the Copa America title after defeating Brazil, thanks in part to a couple of Lionels and an angel among men.

Lionel Scaloni,
their 43-year-old coach, was under immense pressure as he led Argentina to the
Copa America on the back of consecutive stalemates in the World Cup qualifying.
After being held to a 1-1 draw against Chile in the opening encounter, there
were fears of another underwhelming exit from the tournament, like in the 2019
edition, when Brazil beat Argentina 2-0 in the semis.

But Scaloni showed tactical flexibility to wriggle out wins in different circumstances, changing
his lineup or setup in nearly every match so far. The former Sevilla player
used a 4-3-3 formation for the first two games, switching to a 4-2-3-1 set up
for the next two, before reverting to the former in the two knockout games.

This yielded
results, as ‘La Albiceleste’ defeated Uruguay 1-0 in a hotly-contested affair for
their first win of the campaign, before edging Paraguay by the same margin. The final group game saw Argentina run riot against Bolivia in a 4-1 win as the
team finally started to click together.

Another
hefty win followed in the quarter-final, where they defeated Ecuador 3-0,
before goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez starred as Argentina beat Colombia 3-2 on
penalties in the semis.

The other
Lionel, their talismanic captain Messi, was the standout performer for Argentina throughout the tournament. Showing no signs of slowing down at the not-so-sprightly
age of 34, although he failed to score in the final, Messi led in all stats like goals, assist and dribbles – which
has three different leaders in the Euros. He scored four goals, provided
five assists, directly contributing to nine of Argentina’s 11 goals in the tournament.

Also Read | Copa America 2021: Brazil’s road to the final

But on Saturday, it was not Messi, Lautaro Martinez, or Alejandro Gomez, it was an angel, Angel Di Maria, who conquered the trophy for the Argentine side. Although he barely found himself on the starting XI throughout the tournament, on Sunday, handed a start, the winger made the most of the opportunity and scored a goal within the first 22 minutes of the game, which eventually turned out to the winner. With the goal, Di Maria has somewhat buried the ghosts of the 2014 World Cup.   

However, Argentina couldn’t win on Saturday at the iconic Maracana stadium, it wouldn’t have counted for anything. But for once in their modern history, Argentina have finally managed to go all the way, holding their nerves and showcasing their champion mentality.