LIONEL MESSI has another chance to end his international trophy drought when Argentina take on Chile in the final of Copa America Centenario in New Jersey on Sunday.
The Barcelona forward suffered heartbreak at the 2014 World Cup when his team were beaten by Germany in the final at the Maracana and he will be hoping to make amends at MetLife Stadium.
Standing in his way of a first international title, though, are the impressive Chileans who are not ready to relinquish the crown they won on home soil last year.
The final will kick-off at 1am BST (8pm ET) and you can follow all the action here…
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4:00am: That’s all from me. Our report is now LIVE HERE.
CHILE WIN COPA AMERICA! Silva scores from the spot and it’s back-to-back titles for the Chileans. More heartbreak for Messi.
Biglia… saved! Bravo the hero and Chile are on the verge of back-to-back titles.
Jean Beausejour… scores! Romero went the wrong way again. Slotted home nicely 3-2 Chile.
Here comes Aguero… and he slots it home. Cool, calm and composed from Aguero. Bravo went the right way, but it was perfectly placed from the City striker. 2-2.
Aranguiz steps forward for Chile… and he fires home. Romero didn’t move, and the ball flew past him to his left. 2-1 Chile.
Javier Mascherano up next for Argentina… and he scores. Exactly the same as Castillo. Thundered in high and hard with the goalkeeper going the other way. 1-1.
Castillo for Chile – fired in. Emphatic penalty. Romero went the wrong way, but he wasn’t getting to that either way. 1-0 Chile.
Lionel Messi – MISSES. Blazed over by the Barcelona man. Astonishing scenes.
Arturo Vidal up first for Chile… and he MISSES. Romero flings himself to his left to keep the penalty out. It was poor from Vidal, virtually straight down the middle.
3:45am: Both teams in a huddle, I wonder what will be going through their minds’ right now. A huge roar from Chile after Bravo’s pep talk. Chile won 4-1 in the shootout last year, what will happen this time round?
120′: Penalties… it is. The second year in a row these two teams have been goalless after 120 minutes in the final.
105′: Half-time in extra-time… we’re still goalless, but that was a bit better. Excellent save from Claudio Bravo to keep Chile in this. Quick turnaround, and we’re back underway.
100′: WHAT A SAVE! Claudio Bravo tips over Sergio Aguero’s header as it was looping over him and into the far corner. Stunning stop, and we have a game of football all of a sudden.
98′: ROMERO SAVES. An excellent counter attack from Chile and Vargas it was with the header that he looked to guide into the far corner, but the goalkeeper got there.
91′: Looked like some tired legs out there, plenty of players being stretched out maybe after early signs of cramp. Anyway, off we go in extra-time.
FT: Argentina 0-0 Chile Extra-time it is. No separating these teams after a goalless 90 minutes, just like last year’s final.
90′: CHANCES, at both ends… BIG CHANCES! A fantastic move from Chile resulted in Beausejour pulling the ball back for Sanchez, who looked like he was ready to tap in the winner before his shot was blocked. Messi then went on a run and beat two men at the other end, but he fired wide when he saw the headlines tomorrow. We are extra-time bound it seems…
82′: That was the moment, the Aguero moment. It fell for him just like that QPR goal in 2012, but he blazed high and wide from 15 yards. What a chance that was, we might not see a better one.
79′: Sergio Romero finally called into action. It’s Vargas from a tight angle who fired it in low, but the Man United goalkeeper got down and stopped it.
71′: Selfish from Aguero, and Mercado is far from happy. He was in acres of space on the right hand side but the Man City striker shot for goal ambitiously from 25 yards and blazed over. Less than 20 minutes for these two to fins a winner, otherwise it’s extra-time again.
63′: Oh no Chile have made a meal of that. That was a brilliant chance on the counter attack with 4 on 3, but Isla’s ball back into the box had Sanchez offside. That was probably as close as they’ve come to scoring. Signs, though, that this game is opening up a bit with 25 minutes to go. This is good…
56′: Isla… oooo! A snap shot and a half chance for the Chilean but he drags it wide from the edge of the area. First change of the game, Di Maria off – Kranevitter on.
51′: Surprise, surprise… another yellow card. It’s Jean Beausejour this time with a late challenge and he earns himself a spot in the referee’s book. I do hope very soon that I can stop writing about cards and talk to you about football.
46′: Right, the players are back and the second half is underway. Maybe they needed that break to cool off and we can get on with football now.
HT: Argentina 0-0 Chile What an eventful first half that was. Players from both teams remonstrating with the referee as he blows for half-time. Two sendings off, Messi booked for diving. Make of it what you will, but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s been anything but boring.
42: ANOTHER RED CARD! Marcos Rojo has to go. It’s 10 vs 10. Rojo sees red for a foul on Arturo Vidal. That looked incredibly harsh. Vidal certainly made the most of it, but Rojo has to go and it’s 10 on 10. What a bad-tempered first half.
39′: Messi down in the box… and it’s been given as a dive. The referee blew up and it looked like he was signalling for a penalty, but after a long time to consider he called Messi over and showed him a yellow card. Big call, and probably a right one.
36′: Vidal and Mascherano have both just gone into the book. I think it was for a confrontation after a late challenge. Both men were unhappy with something, and so was the referee. Ill-tempered clash so far lacking in any real quality.
33′: What a game changer that could be. They were two cynical fouls on Messi from Diaz and both punished the same way. Chile will have to battle on with 10 men if they are to retain their title.
28′: RED CARD! Marcelo Diaz is sent off. A second bookable offence, once again for stopping Messi in full flow, and the Chileans are down to 10 men.
24′: Otamendi this time… and he’s headed into the side netting. Another good opening for them as the centre back rose highest for a cross at the far post, but he couldn’t hit the target.
21′: WHAT A CHANCE! A terrible mistake from Medel and Higuain pounced. The Argentine striker dinked the ball over the goalkeeper as he went to the floor but his shot was travelling just wide of the far post. Medel made sure it didn’t go in but slid into the post at quite a pace in the protest and was down for a while. That should’ve been 1-0.
19′: Di Maria on his right foot… puts it over. Good incisive passing from Argentina leading to that opportunity for the former Man United winger from the edge of the area but he skied his shot. Signs, though, that Argentina’s forward line are starting to click.
16′: The first booking of the night to Marcelo Diaz. It was coming, to be fair, given the edgy nature of this game so far. That was the first time Messi had the ball at his feet and a chance to run at the Chile defence and he was brought down cynically. Messi went for goal from the free-kick, but was a bit far out and it was claimed easily by Bravo.
12′: Vargas the latest man to hit the deck after appearing to take a whack. Neither side has settled yet, both look very edgy.
7′: Angel Di Maria is on the floor as well now. Bit of an edge to start this game. Argentina with a good spell of pressure and a couple balls into the box, but well dealt with.
4′: Alexis Sanchez down on the floor after turning his ankle. That’s the last thing Arsenal fans will want to see, but he’s back on his feet and trying to run it off. He’s started on the left side of the attacking trio and already Chile have got the ball to his feet a couple times.
1′: What a start that would have been for Argentina just 18 seconds in. Ever Banega latched onto a loose ball in between Chile’s midfield and defence but dragged his shot just wide of the far post from 25 yards. I don’t think Bravo was getting there.
1.05am: Looks like Argentine fans outnumbering the Chileans to me, but still incredible noise from both sets of supporters during the national anthems. Messi and Bravo meet for the coin toss in the last of the formalities. Messi and Higuain hover over the ball in the centre circle ready to kick-off and WE’RE UNDERWAY…
1.01am: FIFA president Gianni Infantino is the guest of honour. He’s just finished shaking hands with the teams and it is now time for the anthems.
12:58am: Fantastic atmosphere inside MetLife Stadium as the teams make their way to the pitch. Lionel Messi it is leading out Argentina with Claudio Bravo at the front of the Chile queue. It was penalties that separated these two teams in the final last year, what will happen this time around? Time for the anthems.
12:51am: How key will this man be?
12:40am: A word about the venue for tonight. MetLife Stadium in the shadows of the Big Apple. There will be over 80,000 supporters in attendance tonight in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The stadium was built in 2007 to be the new home of NFL teams the New York Giants and New York Jets. In it’s short existence, MetLife has already hosted WrestleMania and the Super Bowl. It is a fitting venue for this final.
12:18am: Both these teams came out of Group C to make it to the final. Argentina got the better of Chile when they met in the group stage, winning that match 2-1 at Levi’s Stadium. In the knock-out stages, though, both have been impressive. Argentina dispatched Venezuela 4-1 in the quarter-final before a 4-0 hammering of hosts USA, featuring a stunning Lionel Messi free-kick. Chile sent shockwaves through America when they dismantled Mexico 7-0 in the last eight before cruising past Colombia in the semis. Few would argue that these two teams deserve to be here in the final.
12:02am: There were some fears that Alexis Sanchez might not be fit for the final tonight after appearing to clutch at his groin in training on Saturday. Pleased to say that the Arsenal man does start for the holders. Argentina, as expected, have Higuain, Messi and Di Maria up top.
11.53pm: TEAM NEWS TIME…
Argentina starting XI: Romero, Rojo, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Mercado, Banega, Mascherano, Biglia, Messi, Higuain, Di Maria.
Chile starting XI: Bravo, Beausejour, Medel, Jara, Isla, Vidal, Aranguiz, Diaz, Fuenzalida, Sanchez, Vargas.
11.45pm: This is it. After over three weeks of competition across the United States between 16 teams from North and South America, the Copa America will come to a conclusion tonight in the shadows of New York.
What a final we have as well – Lionel Messi and Argentina against the reigning champions Chile. Messi will hope to finally end his international trophy drought while Chile will want to retain the crown they won on home soil last year. Kick off is in just over an hour, team news on the way shortly, sit back and buckle up… this could be good!
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