Lionel Messi has stressed the importance of Argentina having started the Copa América on the right foot with a 2-0 win over Canada on Thursday in Atlanta.
Messi, who set a Copa América record by playing in his 35th match, said: “It [the win] gives you calmness because you suffer a lot when you start with a loss.
“We had not experienced it [to start a tournament with a win] before under [Argentina coach Lionel] Scaloni.”
However, bad starts have not hurt Argentina in recent years. They drew their Copa América 2021 opener with Chile but went on to win the tournament.
At the 2022 World Cup, they were famously beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia, ending a 36-game unbeaten streak, and yet went on to beat France in the final.
Source:
ESPN
