In the Copa America Finale on Saturday, former Barcelona colleagues Lionel Messi and Neymar will be standing together to finish a hoodoo which has also impacted some of their greatest players in the world. Neither Messi nor Neymar have ever won the Copa, as did Pele and Diego Maradona of Argentina and Brazil before them.
This statistic will change in the dream final in the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
This will be his fourth Copa Final and probably his last chance to be on the winning side for six times Ballon d’Or winner Messi. He has always been the leading player on his squad with four goals and five other goals – the leader of the competition in both categories.
However, it may be his last copa at 34, and his final major world championship could be next year’s World Cup.
Until now the finals only have resulted in Messi’s sadness having been defeated in the Copa in 2007, 2015 and 2016.
Some think it’s Messi’s sole professional goal to win something with Argentina.
“We are going to attempt and stop him from attaining that goal,” said Marquinhos in central Brazil.
“We also have guys, like Messi’s own ‘Ney,’ who didn’t have the title at the past Copa,” he continued.
Neymar was a little longer at 29, but was injured and unavailable two years ago when Brazil claimed its eighth home title in the final, beating Peru 3-1.
But this is a classical encounter between two heavyweights, together with the two super-stars lining up on the reverse side on Saturday.
“We will play the final with our everlasting rivals, the lifelong rivals, two of South America’s most potent national teams, and we expect that this will be an excellent encounter,” said Coach Lionel Scaloni from Argentina.
“Brazil versus Argentina is much more than a football game… these jerseys keep the game standing still. This is Brazil-history, Argentina’s “Marquinhos added. Added.
Incredibly, these two sides are not even the top two in Copa’s history, with Uruguay won 15 Titles to Brazil’s 14 and 14.
In the 47th Copa edition, the two of them fought for the fourth time in the final and Argentina won for the first time in 1937. Brazil finished for four years.
And this is even though you have more than 100 times confronted each other in your history.
They were the strongest two sides, albeit Argentina rode a bit in the half-final penalty win over Colombia. They were the strongest two sides.
For their deep strength the two squads are noteworthy.
Brazil left Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, the hot-shoot Flamengo Gabriel Barbosa and the star of the Real Madrid Vinicius Junior on a bench in their semi-final triumph over Peru – and despite the suspension by Manchester City.
In the middle of this field, a resurgent Fred of Manchester United has kept Liverpool’s Fabinho away.
Similarly, winger Angel Di Maria – a brilliant spark when he came to the semi-finals against Colombia – has primarily begun on the bill, while Sergio Aguero hasn’t really seen the new city of Barcelona.
Messi and Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan (three targets) offer Argentina the main thrust of the attack but have quality and inventiveness all over.
Brazil and the Real Madrid midfield Casemiro remarked, “Argentina is not simply Lautaro and Messi. We can’t just focus on those two.