Argentina have won a joint-record 15 Copa titles and reached the final six times in the past eight editions
\n NEW JERSEY
\nDefending champions Argentina booked their place in the Copa America final after goals from Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi gave them a 2-0 win over Canada in Tuesday\u2019s semi-final in New Jersey. Argentina have won a joint-record 15 Copa titles and reached the final six times in the past eight editions but Canada caused them problems in the opening 20 minutes, Jacob Shaffelburg twice shooting wide from promising positions.
\nAfter soaking up the early pressure Argentina went ahead when Rodrigo De Paul played through Alvarez, who ghosted in between two defenders to score with a tidy finish in the 22nd minute.
\n2022 World Cup winners Argentina gradually took control of the match and Messi had a chance to double their lead in the 44th minute as he created space in the box with silky footwork before lashing his effort wide.
\nCanada nearly snatched an equaliser against the run of play in first-half stoppage time as Jonathan David sneaked in ahead of his marker to get on the end of a long throw, but his close-range shot was hit straight at goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
\nMessi thenscored Argentina\u2019s second in the 51st minute when he stuck out a boot to divert Enzo Fernandez\u2019s shot from the edge of the area past Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.
\nThe goal moved Messi to joint fifth in the all-time Copa America scoring charts, level with Peru\u2019s Paolo Guerrero and Chile\u2019s Eduardo Vargas on 14.
\nThe 37-year-old\u2019s 109th goal for Argentina also saw him surpass Iran\u2019s Ali Daei on the all-time international scoring charts. Messi is second behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 130 goals for Portugal.
\nDespite their two-goal cushion, Argentina had a nervy finish to the match as Canada substitute Tani Oluwaseyi tested Martinez with a crisp shot in the 89th minute before directing a glancing header wide a minute later.
\nArgentina will take on either Uruguay or Colombia, who meet on Wednesday, in the final in Florida on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Argentina have won a joint-record 15 Copa titles and reached the final six times in the past eight editions NEW JERSEY Defending champions Argentina booked their place in the Copa America final after goals from Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi gave them a 2-0 win over Canada in Tuesday\u2019s semi-final in New Jersey. Argentina have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-417709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n