Lionel Messi On Copa America Win: 'It's Crazy, I Can't Explain How Happy I Feel'
July 11, 2021
Lionel Messi didn't hold back his emotions after leading Argentina to a Copa America title with a 1-0 win over Brazil in Saturday's final.
The 34-year-old described his joy to reporters after the match (via Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens of ESPN):
"I still don't think we are aware of what we have done, beyond becoming champions. Now we're really happy, celebrating, but this is a game for the history books, beating Brazil in a final in Brazil.
"It's crazy. I can't explain how happy I feel. I've been sad many times [with Argentina after tournaments] but I knew it would happen and there's no better moment. This team deserved it."
The excitement was obvious throughout the celebration Saturday night:
Bleacher Report @BleacherReportLeo was living it up after winning his first title with Argentina 😂 <a href="https://twitter.com/brfootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brfootball</a><br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/aguerosergiokun?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aguerosergiokun</a>) <a href="https://t.co/oSsxVtWGSg">pic.twitter.com/oSsxVtWGSg</a>
Messi has seen plenty of individual success over his career and accomplished nearly everything possible with Barcelona, but national-team success had eluded him. The superstar had no major tournament trophies for his national team, falling in the finals at the World Cup once and the Copa America three times.
That all changed with the latest win for Argentina. The forward was also named Player of the Tournament at Copa America.
"I was close many times," Messi said. "I knew it would happen eventually."
