A 25-foot cut-out of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi at Chellanam
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

Orlando City midfielder Martín Ojeda celebrates a goal with teammates during a game agaisnt Inter Miami
| Photo Credit: AP

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal against Canada during a Copa America semifinal match in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Defending champions Argentina booked their place in the Copa America final after goals from Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi gave them a 2-0 win over Canada in July 9th’s semi-final in New Jersey.

Argentina have won a joint-record 15 Copa titles and reached the final six times in the past eight editions but Canada caused them problems in the opening 20 minutes, with Jacob Shaffelburg twice shooting wide from promising positions.

After soaking up the early pressure Argentina went ahead when Rodrigo De Paul played through Alvarez, who ghosted in between two defenders to score with a tidy finish in the 22nd minute.

2022 World Cup winners Argentina gradually took control of the match and Messi had a chance to double their lead in the 44th minute as he created space in the box with silky footwork before lashing his effort wide.

Canada nearly snatched an equaliser against the run of play in first-half stoppage time as Jonathan David sneaked in ahead of his marker to get on the end of a long throw, but his close-range shot was hit straight at goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Messi then scored Argentina’s second in the 51st minute when he stuck out a boot to divert Enzo Fernandez’s shot from the edge of the area past Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.

The goal moved Messi to joint fifth in the all-time Copa America scoring charts, level with Peru’s Paolo Guerrero and Chile’s Eduardo Vargas on 14.

The 37-year-old’s 109th goal for Argentina also saw him surpass Iran’s Ali Daei on the all-time international scoring charts. Messi is second behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 130 goals for Portugal.

Despite their two-goal cushion, Argentina had a nervy finish to the match as Canada substitute Tani Oluwaseyi tested Martinez with a crisp shot in the 89th minute before directing a glancing header wide a minute later.

Argentina will take on either Uruguay or Colombia, who meet on July 10, in the final in Florida on July 14.

On October 7 last year, when Hamas gunmen broke into her house in Israel’s Kibbutz Nir Oz, Esther Cunio, 90, did the unimaginable. She talked about her Argentine roots and that she came from the country of footballer Lionel Messi.

“Messi” did the magic. She didn’t only survive the attack but a Hamas gunman posed with her in a short clip as she held his assault rifle.

Eight members of her extended family were taken hostage during the attack, according to The Times of Israel. Her two grandchildren and one of their girlfriends are still being held in Gaza, while the rest of her family members were released as part of the truce deal.

Five months on, Cunio is set to feature in a new documentary on the Hamas attack that prompted the ongoing war in Gaza.

In a clip from the documentary “Voces de 7 de octubre – Latino Stories of Survival” which is still in the making, she narrated what had happened on that fateful day.

Two Hamas operatives came knocking at her doors on October 7, Cunio recounted in the video, enquiring about her family.

An unusual twist in the conversation soon became a savior for the 90-year-old.

“Do you watch soccer?” she asked them.

To a nod from a Hamas operative, she replied, “I am from where Messi is from.”

“I like Messi,” said one of them, brimming with excitement upon hearing the name of one of the greatest footballers. He then made her pose with his rifle and a victory sign for a video.

Recounting the encounter in the film, she also hoped Messi gets to know it was because of him she survived that day.