Lionel Messi’s Argentina will attempt to end a 22-year wait for a major title by adding the Copa America to the remarkable array of trophies he won with Barcelona this season.
“We have the obligation to play well and fight for all championships. It has been a long time since Argentina last won anything so we must win the Copa America,” Messi said in an interview in the Argentine FA magazine.
After their defeat in the World Cup final to Germany in Brazil last year, Argentina are seeking to repeat history.
They travelled to Chile in 1991 having lost the 1990 World Cup final in Italy and won the Copa America, which they retained two years later in Ecuador.
Photo gallery: 12 Copa America players to watch
Argentina’s captain said his team can gain from the experience of so many setbacks. “We are at a special time in our careers, we’re coming from a World Cup in which we came very close to glory and that urges us on and helps us to feel strong for what’s ahead.”
Helping Messi will be Carlos Tevez, who is back in the side after his missed penalty in a shootout was the last kick an Argentina player took at a Copa America and handed Uruguay their quarter-final victory in 2011. It was Tevez’s Juventus side who Messi’s Barcelona beat on Saturday in Berlin to secure the treble of Uefa Champions League and Spanish league and cup.
Gerardo Martino, who succeeded Alejandro Sabella last year, has brought an attacking imprint to the team.
He has an enviable “problem” deciding between Tevez, Sergio Aguero, who scored a hat-trick against Bolivia in a friendly on Saturday, and Gonzalo Higuain for the central striker’s role
Previous appearances 39 (first in 1916)
Best performance winners 14 times - 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993
Fifa world ranking 3
Coach: Gerardo Martino
Came to the job with an impressive CV having steered Paraguay to their best ever World Cup performance, reaching the quarter-finals in South Africa in 2010, then the Copa America final in 2011, winning the Argentine league title with Newell’s Old Boys in 2013 and coaching Barcelona in 2013/14.
He likes his teams to take the game to the opposition, pressing when they lose the ball and playing in their half and admits to worrying when the play goes down Argentina’s end.
Martino is not looking for his team to play like Barcelona, which was 2011 Copa America coach Sergio Batista’s obsession, or as defensively as Alejandro Sabella’s side at the World Cup.
He has a good relationship with team captain Messi, enhanced by the fact they both hail from the same city, Rosario, and started out at the same club, Newell’s.
Key player: Lionel Messi
The world’s best who, after getting over the disappointment of losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, has had a brilliant season leading Barcelona to the La Liga title, King’s Cup victory and Champions League final.
He has scored some of his best goals this year, not least the opener in the King’s Cup final against Athletic Bilbao, and laid on many for fellow forwards Neymar and Luis Suarez and shown maturing leadership qualities.
His presence alone makes Argentina favourites but he has team mates who can be brilliant too on their day in Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria, capable of inspiring the country to their first title since 1993.
Messi played in the 2007 final which Argentina lost to Brazil in Venezuela and the side that lost to Uruguay on penalties in the 2011 quarter-finals when he was struggling to replicate his Barcelona form for his county.
Squad
Goalkeepers Sergio Romero (Sampdoria), Nahuel Guzman (UANL Tigres), Mariano Andujar (Napoli)
Defenders Facundo Roncaglia (Genoa), Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis (both Manchester City), Ezequiel Garay (Zenit St Petersburg), Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Milton Casco (Newell's Old Boys)
Midfielders Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lucas Biglia (Lazio), Ever Banega (Sevilla), Roberto Pereyra (Juventus), Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors), Angel Di Maria (Manchester United), Erik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur), Javier Pastore (Paris Saint-Germain)
Forwards Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Carlos Tevez (Juventus), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris Saint-Germain)
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