Lionel Messi clinches in Finalissima victory with Argentina

 

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi was impressive as he led his national team to the Finalissima trophy on Wednesday when Argentina beat Italy with a resounding 3-0 victory at Wembley.

The Finalissima is a competition where the winner of Copa America and the winners of the European championship face each other. It is the first time in over 20 years that the one-game final will be played with Euro 2020 champions Italy facing Copa américa winners Argentina at the Wembley Stadium.

For Argentina, the game was one of their many tune-up games ahead of the FIFA World Cup in November 2022 in Qatar, while it was a farewell for Italian legend in Georgia Chiellini, who was playing his last game at the same venue where Italy won the Euro 2020 last year.

As Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, it was another opportunity for them to win a trophy as a consolation.

However, they were the second-best team for the whole 90 minutes as Argentina dominated from start to finish, led by PSG forward Lionel Messi.

Argentina troubled the Italian defense but was denied on several occasions by Gianluigi Donnarumma until Argentina took the lead when Lionel Messi wriggled his way past Italian defenders and laid a pass on the platter for Latauro Martinez to tap into an empty net.

Early in the second half, the Copa America winners doubled the lead when Angel di Maria was set free one-on-one with Donnarumma before the player who left PSG at the end of the 2021/2022 season chipped the ball over his former club teammates to make it 2

Paulo Dybala made it 3-0 with the icing on the cake in stoppage time. It is the 2nd international trophy for Lionel Messi after Copa America last year, while Argentina continues their unbeaten run, which is now up to 32 matches.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu