Lionel Messi wrote himself into the history books once again after appearing in Argentina's 2-0 win over Canada in their first 2024 Copa America match.
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The 36-year-old captained his nation in their opening match of the tournament in the early hours of Friday morning.
After Julian Alvarez broke the deadlock for the Albiceleste early in the second half, Messi assisted Lautaro Martinez for their second goal late on.
In featuring in yet another match in the South American competition, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has become the all-time leading appearance-maker at the Copa America.
Messi has now played 35 times in the continental showpiece, contributing to 31 goals in the process.
However, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni was not pleased with the state of the field at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, voicing his concerns in a post-match interview.
It is believed the synthetic surface was covered in grass only two days ago, with Scaloni calling it a "disaster".
"Very bumpy. We must improve in this aspect, otherwise, Copa America will always appear at a lower level than the European Championship," he said, according to ESPN.
"The game was like that of Saudi Arabia in the World Cup, except that one had a good pitch," Scaloni said, referencing his team's opening-game loss in Qatar in 2022. Better that we won, or else it would have appeared as an excuse, but they knew seven months ago that we'd play here and they changed the field two days ago. It's not an excuse, but this isn't a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these players.
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"We gave not necessarily a good game, but a game according to the pitch and what the rival proposed. We couldn't do much more with the conditions of the pitch. Look at the speed of the passes that we did."
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