Copa America 2024 is the 7th South American championship that Messi has participated in, setting a new record. Speaking after the match with Canada, Messi said: “I don’t care about records, but I’m happy to still be here, fighting with my teammates, enjoying Copa America”.

“I myself am not focused on setting records, I simply want to do my best, to try with my teammates in the Argentina team. Sometimes we play well, sometimes we play very badly, but in any situation, the whole team always fights with all their might,” Messi added.

Argentina won 2-0 against Canada. Surprisingly, this was the first win for the reigning world and South American champions, at the start of a major tournament (World Cup and Copa America), under Scaloni.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner spoke about opponents always focusing on defending in large numbers when facing Argentina: “Most opponents play one way when facing Argentina, they play differently from us.”

“Argentina always have a hard time finding space in their defence. Every time we go out on the pitch, we know that Argentina have to be patient and take their chances when they come.

Argentina always has to prepare very carefully physically, because our matches are all physical torture. Actually, we also know how our opponents will play. As for Canada, they are strong and agile. Anyway, the important thing is that we started the tournament with a victory,” Messi said modestly.

In the match against Canada, Messi did not score directly, but he had the decisive pass for Lautaro Martinez to score the winning goal 2-0 for Argentina.

The Tango team will have their second match at Copa America 2024, against Chile on June 25. Messi said: “We are in a difficult group, Argentina has 2 more matches. In the near future, we will face Chile, they are a tough opponent.”