Santiago: The prospect of leading his country to a first major title in 22 years is driving Lionel Messi as Argentina meet Chile here on Sunday in a Copa America final clash of the golden generations.
The three-week South American football showpiece reaches its climax at the Estadio Nacional with a dream final pitting the favourites against the hosts, and the stakes could not be any higher for both sides.
Messi heads a star-studded Argentina desperate to write their own piece of history by winning a first international title since 1993, 12 months after an agonising defeat to Germany in last year’s World Cup final. Chile, meanwhile, are anxious to finally shed their unwanted tag as the perennial nearly men of South American football, ending 99 years of hurt by winning a first Copa America. An Argentine triumph would crown a remarkable season for Messi, who less than a month ago completed a treble-winning campaign with Barcelona with victory in the Champions League final.
It would also erase the sense of frustration Messi has often felt at international level, 10 years after he led Argentina to victory as a teenager in the 2005 Under-20 World Cup.“This generation is desperate to win a title with the national team. As a team, we deserve to win something and it would mean so much after the World Cup last year where we came so close,” Messi told reporters. Argentina striker Sergio Aguero believes defeat is just not an option.
