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Lionel Messi continued to shine for Argentina when La Albiceleste took on Colombia in the second semi-final of the 2021 Copa America, eventually winning 1-1 (3-2 on penalties) to set up a mouth-watering clash against Brazil in the final.
There has been little doubt that Lionel Messi has been exemplary for Argentina thus far in the competition, scoring the most goals (4) and registering the most assists (5) so far.
As Argentina stepped onto the pitch against Colombia, an entire nation (and then some) hoped and prayed that Lionel Messi would deliver once again, and deliver he did.
It took Lionel Messi just seven minutes to set up the first goal for Argentina after Lautaro Martinez received his pass and subsequently found the back of the net. Colombia, however, refused to go quietly and equalized quickly into the second half when Luis Diaz scored a goal he had no right to score, from the tightest of angles despite being off-balance.
Unable to settle the game within regular time, Argentina and Colombia were forced into a penalty shoot-out to determine who would make it to the final. Juan Cuadrado was the first to step up and score for Colombia before Lionel Messi scored his penalty to make things level at 1-1. Davinson Sanchez (Colombia), Rodrigo de Paul (Argentina) and Yerry Mina (Colombia) then missed their respective penalties before Leandro Paredes (Argentina) broke the streak to put Argentina ahead (2-1) with both teams left with two penalties each.
Miguel Borja (Colombia) and Lautaro Martinez (Argentina) went on to successfully convert their spot kicks before Argentina's heroic goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, saved his 3rd penalty of the shoot-out, handing La Albiceleste the victory and passage to the all-important final against Brazil.
Notably, Lionel Messi showcased just why he's widely considered to be the best in the world as he played a part of the match with a bleeding ankle. Despite sustaining the injury following a gruesome tackle, Lionel Messi showed no signs of slowing down and put in a solid performance yet again, with many calling his performances in the tournament worthy of a Ballon d'Or.
Of course, if Messi does lead Argentina to the title and win his first piece of international silverware, he will definitely be in with a rather loud shout.
Naturally, social media was abuzz as Argentina secured their place in the final by edging past Colombia and even more so because, well, Lionel Messi.
As fans all around the world took to Twitter to express themselves following the result, we tried putting together some of the best tweets we found. Without further ado, here are the:
Best Tweets from Argentina 1-1 Colombia (3-2 on penalties) as Lionel Messi shines again
