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WINS COPA AMERICA 2021 Winning can be a mighty potent salve for healing some of the lingering heartaches of past disappointments, as Messi discovered while leading Argentina’s national club to the prestigious Copa America title in 2021. After a pair of losses to Chile in the Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, which was preceded by a painful 1–0 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup finals, Messi was the driving force in delivering a string of wins that was punctuated with a 1–0 victory over host nation Brazil in the finals. The victory at the 10-team tournament was Argentina’s first major title in nearly 30 years. Messi was a gigantic headache for opposing teams all tournament long, driving the Argentina attack, delivering timely goals, and distributing the ball to teammates in prime scoring areas. He finished with a tournament-best four goals to go with five assists, and he was the obvious choice to be named Player of the Tournament.

Lionel Messi had plenty of reasons to celebrate after leading Argentina to the 2021 Copa America title, defeating Brazil 1–0 for its first major title in 28 years.

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