Lionel Messi, attacked by Chile and ‘playing with pain’, is lifted by his Argentine teammates at the Copa América

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Lionel Messi returned to the scene of his worst Copa America nightmare, and step by step, blow by blow, Chilean by Chilean here on Tuesday night, the nightmare almost returned.

For 87 minutes, Argentina and Messi, hit by a “sore throat and fever“In recent days, they dueled with Chile and were unable to advance.

As they endured an eventful game, the dark poetry of a 0-0 stalemate swept across MetLife Stadium. It was exactly the same result, in the same place, that broke Messi eight years earlier.

He hovered over 81,106 fans and two dozen players, until one of them, Lautaro Martínez, banished him forever from the past.

Martínez scored a dramatic late winner to send Argentina into the round of 16 of the 2024 Copa América and prove for the umpteenth time that that Argentina, Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina, the liberated version of Argentina, is completely different from the one that lived the nightmare.

The nightmare was June 26, 2016, and it left Argentines everywhere devastated. For the third summer in a row, his team reached the final of a major tournament; for the third summer in a row, they lost. Messi missed a penalty after 120 brutal minutes of goalless football against Chile. Afterwards, your distraught body fell; Her face contorted in pain. He was so devastated that he left the national team that night. He later reversed his decision, but no one involved was able to reverse or erase the memory.

So it was what drove all the narratives this week, as Messi returned to MetLife for the first time since that harrowing night.

Then it came to a head when the same two South American neighbors, wearing the same colors, led by some of the same protagonists, canceled each other out once again.

Chile contained and trapped Messi. The midfielders surrounded him. The defenders kicked him. Even Alexis Sanchez chased Messi all over the field and threw his body into challenges.

As a unit, they moved back and forth on a lower-middle block, blocking passing lanes.

And they walked the yellow card line deftly, fouling Messi but never hard enough to merit a warning.

Midway through the first half, Gabriel Suazo tackled him from behind on the right touchline and Messi immediately turned to the bench for treatment. For nearly two minutes, a doctor massaged the right adductor area. For minutes after that, fans worried that, a day after his 37th birthday, Messi wasn’t right – and the fears weren’t entirely unfounded.

“I started the game with discomfort, I wasn’t completely loose,” Messi admitted later. Then the muscles in his legs tensed. “I didn’t feel a sharp pain or anything like that, but I was stiff,” he said. “It was difficult for me to move freely and it was a little uncomfortable.”

He was also frustrated. Upon hearing the half-time whistle, he went to the referee to complain, probably about the beating he was receiving.

He still created some chances. He brushed the outside of a pole with a 25-yard stroll. He dodged the Chileans, eliciting adoring chants from thousands of fans. He didn’t necessarily play poorly.

But he was neutralized and injured. His aging legs were not fully functional. And it was in situations like these that, for years, including in 2016, Argentina faltered. Messi’s teammates would freeze. Copa América or World Cup hopes could fail.

But that was then. In Brazil, Qatar and now the United States, teammates come to the rescue.

Luck also smiled on a team that previously seemed cursed. There wasn’t much skill in Tuesday’s winner, a product of penalty box pinball. And there wasn’t much fun in Argentina’s overall performance.

“It wasn’t an easy match,” Argentina coach Scaloni said after the game.

It was “difficult” and “complicated”, agreed his Chilean counterpart, Ricardo Gareca.

But it was exactly the kind of match that, in an earlier era, would have turned into chaos. Here, instead, Argentina remained calm and in control. Martínez took the chance and spun towards the corner flag, with around 70,000 Albiceleste the fans roared. Teammates rushed toward him and surrounded him. And Messi, after taking the corner that led to the opposite goal, ran silently towards them. He was the last to arrive. He was, for the first time, out of the spotlight. And Argentina was ahead.

Of course, they will still want and need him to lead them to another Copa América title. His health is officially a concern. Yes, he played all 90 minutes, but the leg “bothers” him, he said. “I hope it’s nothing serious.” He goes supposedly undergo testing on Wednesday. He could rest on Saturday against Peru, especially with Argentina already confirmed in the quarterfinals.

But now, unlike that nightmarish night in 2016, he has a team capable of lifting him up, just as he so often lifts them up.