Despite Not Starting, Lautaro Martinez Was the Top Copa American Goal Scorer
A brilliant run at Copa America was capped with Lautaro Martinez scoring the only goal in the 112th minute to lead Argentina to a 1-0 win over Colombia. The Lautaro Martinez stats show that he scored the game-winning goal in three matches in the Copa America tournament.
The goal against Colombia came after an injury knocked the legendary Lionel Messi out of the match. Messi was in tears on the sideline as he wanted to be on the field to help the Argentine side to the title.
Martinez didn’t enter the Copa America final until the 97th minute and he still came through with the goal to give Argentina a second straight Copa America title in a match played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami amid some security issues that often overshadowed the play on the field.
The tournament was the final international event for Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and there is speculation that it could be the last hurrah on the international stage for Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players of all time.
Argentina has won Copa America 16 times and been in the final on 30 occasions. From 1994 to 2003, Argentina failed to reach the Copa America final. This is the sixth final in the Copa America games for Argentina since 2024 but it is just the second title.
The television ratings on FOX, FS1, and Univision showed a huge jump from the numbers in 2021 and even after the United States was eliminated, viewers continued to tune in.
Sports Media Watch reported that the Argentina-Chile match averaged 1.15 million viewers on FS1 and got as high as 1.48 million from 10:45-11 p.m. ET. That is the fourth-largest TV audience for a match that either didn’t occur in the World Cup or involved the United States.
That strong showing at Copa America enabled Martinez to earn Player of the Week recognition.
Martinez Making His Presence Felt
When it comes to Lautaro Martinez’s stats, his goal-scoring prowess first began to be known when he scored seven times in 11 appearances with Argentina’s U20 squad in 2016 and 2017.
Martinez scored five times at the 2017 South American U-20 Championships to help Argentina qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
A year later he made his debut with the senior team in international friendlies against Italy and Spain.
Martinez was not named to Argentina’s 2018 World Cup team. He did score some key goals for Argentina in the 2019 Copa America.
Martinez didn’t score a goal in the run of play at the 2022 World Cup but had the winning penalty in a 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Martinez and Argentina would win the World Cup.
Changing of the Guard in Argentina?
Different generations have passed the torch to the next wave of Argentine greats.
It is time for Martinez to be a part of the new blood as Argentina looks at a future without Di Maria and possibly without Messi.
The truth is, it’s hard to describe,” Di Maria told the media after the win over Colombia. “It was written like that. I told the guys last night at dinner that I dreamt it. That’s why I said it was my last Copa America. I dreamt we made it to the final and we won it so I could go out this way.
“I’ll be always grateful to this generation who gave me everything, helped me win what I always wanted and today, I am leaving like this. It could not be better.”
The decision to bring Martinez off the bench was a curious one for Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, especially with Martinez not coming onto the field until extra time.
It would be hard to envision a gifted goal scorer like Martinez continuing to be in a reserve role in future international competitions for Argentina.
Plenty of Welcome To America Moments
While United States fans were disappointed to see the home squad fail to advance out of group play and that ultimately cost Gregg Berhalter his job as the head coach of the United States men’s soccer team, Martinez and Argentina gave soccer fans in the U.S. plenty to cheer about.
The 26-year-old Martinez had the second goal in a win over Canada, the only goal versus Chile, and in the final group match, he scored twice against Peru.
When looking at Lautaro Martinez’s stats, none of those goals were as important as his strike in extra time against Colombia to give Argentina its record 16th Copa America title.
Martinez won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the tournament. Colombia’s James Rodriguez, who had six assists, was named the MVP of the tournament.
Colombia entered the match on a 28-match unbeaten streak. The last time Colombia lost was in a 2022 World Cup qualifier on a goal by Martinez.
The five goals were two more than the United States scored in the tournament.
Happy to Join the Club
Even though Martinez won’t turn 27 until Aug. 22, he has already had quite a noteworthy club career beginning when he scored 13 goals in the U-17 league for Linier.
Martinez would score 22 times in 48 appearances for the Racing Club.
Martinez had a chance to prove himself among Serie A players when he signed a five-year deal with Inter Milan on July 4, 2018. Just a week and a half later, he scored in a friendly versus Lugano.
One of his biggest goals in Serie A came when he tallied the only score against rival Milan in the Champions League semifinal. It helped Inter Milan reach the Champions League final.
Earlier this year, Martinez scored his 100th Serie A goal on his way to being the top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals. He was named the Serie A MVP.
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 13:01:12
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