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Sad News: Lionel Messi had a serious … See More! left him in tears during Argentina’s copa American final win over Colombia.
New picture shows Lionel Messi’s gruesome ankle injury that left him in tears during Argentina’s Copa America final win over Colombia
A new picture has revealed the true extent of the damage to Lionel Messi’s ankle after the Argentina star suffered a nasty injury during the Copa America final.
The Inter Miami forward emotionally exited the field in the 64th minute after suffering a non-contact injury while running as Argentina defeated Colombia 1-0 for its record 16th Copa America title.
Messi immediately looked toward the Argentina bench as he went to the ground. He remained down for several minutes as medical staff came out. He was helped to his feet and immediately took his boot off his right foot.
As he walked off the field, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner took off his captains armband and threw his boot to the ground in frustration. An emotional Messi was then shown covering his face, sobbing in his seat.
A new picture has shown the incredible swelling around Messi’s right ankle that had ballooned in size while he sat on the bench. He was later seen icing it but it appears he could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Messi also appeared to be limping after the game but was apparently in good spirits.
He clapped and laughed and lifted the trophy with teammates Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria.
‘We were able to win for him,’ Di María said, ‘give him the joy.’
Making his 39th and possibly last Copa America appearance, Messi had one goal in the tournament. He went down in the 36th minute after his left ankle was caught by Santiago Arias but walked back onto the field three minutes later.
Messi had been dealing with a leg injury and discomfort through much of the tournament and missed Argentina’s group stage finale. He had one shot attempt in the first half Sunday.
The final at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium was delayed more than an hour because of terrifying crowd issues that saw fans breaching security gates.
Videos posted on social media showed fans jumping over security railings near the southwest entrance of the stadium and running past police officers and stadium attendants.
Screams could be heard in the background as people were crushed because of the huge congestion caused by the chaos.