ATLANTA – They descended on Mercedes-Benz Stadium on foot, by bicycle, by scooter, by car and by train. They came from all points of the compass and almost all wore the white and sky blue of The Albiceleste. They were disciples of Messi’s church, and on Thursday night the high priest rewarded them.
Lionel Messi and Argentina began their 2021 Copa América title defense on Thursday with a complicated but inevitable 2-0 victory over Canada. The vibe throughout the stadium was much more South American, much less Southeastern Conference, giving American fans an up-close look at the kind of passion that drives football fans on continents beyond this one.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium has hosted a Super Bowl, several Beyoncé and Rolling Stones concerts, a college football national championship and an MLS title game. It’s the regular home of the first week of December for the SEC championship, and it’s seen some of the most powerful American teams of the last half decade – the Alabama Crimson Tide, the New England Patriots, the Georgia Bulldogs – win a crucial legacy. -defining games here. But nothing like the South American explosion that radiated throughout the massive arena on Thursday night has ever been seen.
An elite soccer match is an all-out assault on the senses, with constantly rotating ads from brands unfamiliar to the American public, mixing stadium standards like “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Welcome to the Jungle” with Latin and dance beats. clubs. , MCs who pump up the crowd by shouting with enough force into the microphones to overload the venue’s overloaded speakers. It’s a thrilling, relentless barrage, and even if you don’t understand every word, you can revel in the fact that everyone around you is having an ecstatic experience.
After a spectacular opening ceremony of the 48th edition of the Copa América, the match officially starts at 8:06 pm local time. There are 22 players on the field, but all eyes are on Argentina’s number 10, who set a new Copa América record on Thursday night, with his 35th appearance in the tournament.
Messi can spend significant parts of a match pacing around as if he were waiting for a barista to finish his order. And then, out of nowhere – as if he could predict the future – he’s exactly where he needs to be, like during a 10-minute breakaway when he fired a cross-court shot that deflected wide. The play could well have been offside, but the message to Canada and the world was clear: Messi is coming.
Canada spent most of the first half just holding off the initial Argentine attack, with enough resistance – like an Alphonso Davies penalty and a Liam Millar follow-up close enough to leave the crowd gasping – to keep anyone in sky blue and white becoming very comfortable. And when Canadian Stephen Eustaquio almost headed home in the 43rd minute, Argentine nerves frayed even further.
At halftime, stadium crews watered most of the newly laid natural grass, trying to bring more consistency and stability to a surface very different from the usual grass at NFL stadiums. The viability and sustainability of natural grass laid over artificial grass will be a key issue not only at the Copa América next month, but at the larger, world-wide tournament that hits American shores in two years’ time. Eleven of the 16 stadiums scheduled to host World Cup games are NFL stadiums, and many of them, including Atlanta, have grass fields. Football purists are as focused on field agronomy as golf aficionados, and any hint of imperfection will attract scathing criticism.
“We’ve known for seven months that we’re going to play here and they changed the grass two days ago,” said Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni after the match. It was similar to [Saudi] Arabia, but with the difference that we play there on a suitable pitch. It can’t be like that.”
Whether the grass is natural or artificial, there is a certain symmetry in the fact that the America’s Cup began in a stadium that hosted some of the most significant moments in recent college football history – Alabama’s second national championship victory and 26 overtime against Georgia in 2018, then Georgia’s midnight playoff semifinal victory over Ohio State in 2022. Of all American sports, college football comes closest to the unabashed, unparalleled reverence that fans South Americans have for football.
Fat-cheeked babies with faces painted with the Argentine flag, young boys and old men taking off their shirts and twirling them above their heads, the complex screams and chants that come out of nowhere and surround the stadium, the constant nervous energy that vibrates through the crowd… everything this creates a fervent, passionate vibe that, to Americans, may be strange in its details but very familiar in its intensity.
Canada fought well in the first half, but reality caught up with the Canucks early in the second. Argentine Julian Álvarez, taking a break from his day job at Manchester City, converted after Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau collided with Álvarez’s teammate Alexis Mac Allister, leaving the goal open for an easy touch.
Messi fired up the crowd in the 65th minute, almost converting in a one-on-one escape that was at once graceful and balletic for Leo, and desperate and greedy for Canada. Desperation won this time.
Another remarkable moment almost blossomed around 10 minutes later when Messi broke free once again with just Crépeau between him and the goal – but a collision with Crépeau ended the threat, leaving Messi sprawled face down on the grass and most of the crowd. mad enough to open the stadium’s retractable roof:
The dagger came in the 88th minute, when Messi set up Lautaro Martínez for a brilliant move:
The match was one of those rare matches that serves as a kind of victory for both sides — Argentina, obviously, got the three points for the victory, but Canada gained the confidence to know that it can compete with the best in the world… and could take some comfort in the fact that Crépeau and the Canadian defense denied Messi two easy chances. It’s not as good as a win, or even a draw, but it’s something.
As for Messi and Argentina, after a slow start, they started the Copa América showing that they are not yet ready to hand over the title. And now American fans also have an idea of how to improve their game.
