The United States Copa America This will be the scene where one of the great battles for golden ball in between Vinicius Junior, the fittest footballer of the moment, and Leo Messiconsidered by many to be the best in the world while still active.
The forward of real Madrid leading a Brazilian team without Neymar, is still out with a torn cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee, and is in the process of rebuilding after a bad news-filled 2023.
Messi living in Inter Miami his last years were short, but as absolute boss of Argentina, the best team on the planet today, according to the FIFA classification, after being crowned in Qatar World Cup 2022.
The rivalry is served. The winner will come to golden ball Messi he won in the end, his eighth. Vinicius He netted the first for himself and the first for Brazil since Kaká won it in 2007.
The player of São Gonçalo is coming off the signing of an exceptional season at real Madrid: Champion of the League, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League, mainly in the semi-finals and the final against Borussia Dortmund.
Its market value reached 180 million euros. He is one of the four most important players along with the Norwegian Erling Haaland (Manchester City), the English Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and the French Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), where he will share a dressing room starting next year.
But Vinicius, about to turn 24, he needs to show the national team the outstanding level achieved at his club. He played around 1,700 minutes with the senior team, spread over 30 games where he barely scored 3 goals. He tiptoed to Copa America 2021, being a successor, and in Qatar It was not popular. In USAeveryone focused on him.
At almost 37 years old (he will be June 24), Messi will face this Copa América without the pressure to put on the Albiceleste ahead of Qatar 2022. It arrives freely and with a more than integrated group that has already shown its strength in the South American qualifiers for 2026 World Cup, leading with five wins and one loss in six rounds played so far.
At club level, so far this campaign he has scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists in 15 games with Inter Miami between ‘concachampions’ and the MLS, a championship less demanding than the Europeans, but increasingly competitive. And by choice he kept the tone. In this Friday’s friendly, winning 4-1 against Guatemala, he gave a new exhibition by scoring two goals in 90 minutes of participation.
If he retains the title achieved in 2021 at the expense of Brazil and wins his second Copa América, there will be no shortage of debates about whether Messi deserves to be a candidate for the Ballon d’Or with Vinicius, Bellingham, Mbappé and the german Toni Kroos.
The last winner, in 2023, based on the memory of Qatar 2022, has already generated intense controversy in a year in which Haaland has won it all at City. But for many coaches, players and journalists, the Rosary beads He will be the best ever, playing in Spain, the United States or on Mars.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
