Argentina won the Copa America for the first time since 1993 in Rio de Janeiro last night, beating Brazil in the final 1-0.
Lionel Messi was mobbed by his teammates on the final whistle; Rodrigo de Paul, man-of-the-match on the night, was the first to reach his captain according to Marca.
De Paul plays for Udinese in Italy, but is on the verge of joining Atletico Madrid. It was the biggest game of his career but he stepped up the plate, contributing the game-winning assist when he threaded through an inch-perfect ball for Angel di Maria.
Argentina's last Copa America victory came in 1993. Gabriel Batistuta scored the winning goal after a defence-splitting through ball from Cholo Simeone. He'll have liked what he saw from Atleti-bound Rodrigo de Paul last night with his identical assist. https://t.co/WjlP4e72zn
— Alan Feehely (@azulfeehely) July 11, 2021
His performance will have put a smile on the face of Diego Simeone. The Argentine was part of the team that won that Copa America back in 1993, when Simeone supplied a defence-splitting through ball to set up Gabriel Batistuta’s winning goal that was identical to De Paul’s assist.
De Paul started five of Argentina’s seven games, and will take a much-needed holiday before meeting up with his new Atletico teammates as expected.