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June 17, 2019

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Messi ‘bitter’ in Colombia Copa defeat

Lionel Messi said his team was feeling bitter after Argentina lost its opening Copa America match 0-2 to Colombia despite dominating the second half.

Goals from Roger Martinez and Duvan Zapata in the final 20 minutes gave Colombia their first tournament victory over Argentina in 20 years as Messi’s hopes of finally landing a major international tournament after losing in four finals suffered a serious blow.

“We leave here feeling bitter,” said Messi following the Group B clash in Salvador.

“In the second half we had our chances.”

One of the best of those fell to the 31-year-old Barcelona icon but he headed wide after Colombia’s goalkeeper David Ospina got down quickly to push out a header from center-back Nicolas Otamendi.

But although Argentina dominated possession and created more chances in the second period, they rarely caused Ospina any serious concerns.

“We didn’t want to start this way, obviously, but now we have to lift our heads and keep going,” said the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“In the first half we retreated a little and were holding on, but in the second we really opened up.

“Whenever you lose it’s hard for us, we usually take it badly. Now we have to think about Paraguay.”

Argentina can still make the knock-out stages with games against Paraguay and guest Qatar, the Asian champion, to come.

Colombia was the better side in a goalless first half but scored twice against the run of play in the second period, with both goals coming from substitutes.

“I came on and helped my team. We did the best we could and we managed to turn the game around at the end of the second half. We played really well,” said Zapata.

Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, who only took over Colombia after leaving his job with Iran at the end of the January-February Asian Cup, paid tribute to the side’s collective effort.

“Colombia as a team was the best player on the pitch,” said Queiroz.

“We played with a lot of discipline, concentration, with responsibility, and players with the quality of James (Rodriguez) and (Radamel) Falcao helped us a lot in this organization.”

And he praised his team for “controlling Messi a bit,” noting that “we’re always talking about him and you cannot neutralize him.”




 

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