Copa América 2021 Top Moments: Argentina-Chile, Paraguay-Bolivia
One of the great things about the Copa América tournament is the wealth of big-name stars fans get to watch throughout the tournament.
On Sunday, it was Brazilian star Neymar, who put an emphatic stamp on Brazil's 3-0 victory over Venezuela.
On Monday, it was Lionel Messi's turn to steal the show.
It was a typically brilliant Messi moment, and clearly the highlight in the early part of Monday's action – which also included Paraguay vs. Bolivia.
But it wasn't the only highlight. Here are the top moments from Monday's Copa América action:
The pregame celebration started off beautifully, with a lovely tribute to Argentine legend Maradona.
Argentina kept the pressure on early, stopped from a quick 1-0 lead by Chile goalie Claudio Bravo.
But it wasn't long before Messi had his chance, and if you ever wondered what perfection looked like, this is it.
With 57 career free kick goals, it's hard to imagine wanting anyone else taking that shot.
Chile didn't give up, however, knotting the score at 1-1 with a hustle goal by Eduardo Vargas off a saved penalty kick.
Messi nearly set up a go-ahead goal with a perfect pass in the 80th minute.
But 1-1 ended up being the final score in the tournament opener for both teams.
Paraguay threatened right out of the gate.
But it was Bolivia that struck first with a PK, even though the goalie guessed correctly.
Paraguay had a great chance to tie the score late in the first half but somehow missed the net.
But Paraguay soon got hot, tieing the score on a brilliant strike by Kaku in the 62nd minute.
And three minutes later they took a 2-1 lead on this amazing finish.
Paraguay continued to assert its second-half dominance, going up 3-1 in the 80th minute as Angel Romero slid home his second goal of the game. And that was the final score.
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