Lionel Messi and Argentina are through to yet another Copa América final.
The reigning champions defeated Canada 1-0 on Tuesday, easing past their opponents in front of a sell-out crowd of 80,000 fans at MetLife Stadium to tee up Sunday's Miami final.
They will contest their 16th final against either Colombia or Uruguay. Argentina opened the scoring through Julián Álvarez in the 22nd minute before Messi added another early in the second period, his first of the competition, and it proved to be enough.
Messi's goal was thanks to a shot by Enzo Fernández that was deflected, deceiving goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau from Canada. But it was Álvarez's goal that set the tone for the encounter. Rodrigo De Paul started the action across the pitch, giving a perfect long pass to Álvarez, who managed to get past a defender to score.
Although Canada created some good opportunities in the opening 20 minutes, matched Argentina with more shots early, it couldn't quite seem to find that finishing touch. By the final whistle, Argentina had 11 shots to Canada's 8, while Canada only troubled Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez twice. It means Argentina will now seek to win three consecutive major tournaments, with Wednesday's opponents to be decided as Colombia takes on Uruguay.
Victory on Sunday would make Argentina the all-time winningest Copa América team, breaking their current tie with Uruguay.
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