Romans 9 v 15: He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” KJV
For years, it has been a case of tears, disappointment and it looked like Mercy eluded Lionel Messi on the international scene, Sportivation.com.ng reports.
He lost four finals with the La Albiceleste including the 2014 FIFA World Cup and three Copa America finals before Mercy prevailed for him and as it is written in the holy book, “weeping may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the morning”
Joy truly came in the morning as most Messi fans in Nigeria stayed awake to watch the final in the early hours of Sunday as he led Argentina to their first Copa America trophy since 1993.
Angel Di Maria scored the only goal in the 22nd-minute to give Argentina a 1-0 victory over their arch-rivals, Brazil in the land of the Selecao.
Before the match, Messi and Neymar were named the best players of the tournament, this is the first time the award will be split between two players.
Copa America 2021 Golden Boot: Lionel Messi beats Neymar to win the top-scorer award
According to Conmebol, “It is not possible to choose only one player, because this competition has two best players,” CONMEBOL said in a statement.
“They demonstrated in each match the different qualities that make them players of integrity, with technical and tactical quality, for their intelligence with and without the ball, and their decision making, which is always decisive.
“Both are finalists with their national teams, they have performed at a high level, being key players in the goalscoring charts in this tournament.
“In addition, they are leaders in assists – the Argentine has five and the Brazilian has provided three – which demonstrates how decisive they have been on the pitch during this CONMEBOLCopa America 2021.”
Messi was at the heart of everything good for Argentina in the competition scoring four goals and racking up five assists including two sublime free-kicks.
