Argentina vs Costa Rica: Will Lionel Messi Live Up to the Hype in Copa America?

Argentina vs Costa Rica: Will Lionel Messi Live Up to the Hype in Copa America?

Before the 2011 Copa America tournament kicked off, Argentina was favored to win it all with the help of soccer legend Lionel Messi.

Through the beginning of the tournament, Messi looked like anything but the greatest player in the world, and the heat was really coming down on the team and their coach.

After a 3- 0 victory against the Costa Rican National team on Monday night, Argentina is right back in the hunt for the title, and their biggest star has decided he wants to play.

Argentinean coach Sergio Batista told Goal.com:

He played a fantastic game. We talked a lot about the emotional and individual state of the team before the match. We needed to regain our confidence. Lionel knows how to overcome these situations, he has great character.

This is the kind of performance they needed from Messi, and now the team will be expecting this kind of effort every time he takes a step onto the pitch.

The coach is going to defend his best player because he knows that his job is always on the line, and when his best star doesn’t perform, he looks terrible.

It was just a matter of time before the world football legend made his mark on the game, and it was a matter of time before his infectious work ethic and confidence wore off on the entire team.

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