Copa America: Lionel Messi Wrestled Down by Chile Midfielder in Unseen Footage

• Unseen footage of a Chile player wrestling down Lionel Messi to quell Argentina’s attack has emerged online
• La Albiceleste advanced to the last eight of the Copa America after their second win in the group stages on Wednesday, June 26, 2024
• Messi provided the crucial assist to set up Lautaro Martinez, who came off the bench to score the winner in the 88th minute

The age-old question in the modern football world has been, “How do you stop Lionel Messi?”

After watching the little Argentine maestro for more than two decades, opposition players know what to expect from Messi, but stopping him is a different story.

The former Barcelona star, who turned 37 on June 24, 2024, may not be at the peak of his footballing powers, but he still has an unbelievable ability to hurt defences.

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So much, in fact, that a Chile player decided the best way to stop Messi was to put him down, quite literally.

Chile player hilariously wrestles down Messi

An unseen clip from La Albiceleste’s Copa America Group A win over Chile has surfaced, showing just how afraid opponents are of Messi.

The video captures the moment Messi picks the ball in the middle of the park before running at three Chile players and playing a pass forward.

Moments later, as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is running into space to receive a pass, one of the players he dribbled past physically manhandles the forward, leaving him on the ground in hilarious yet unfortunate scenes.

Sports Brief has since established the player who fouled Messi in the off-the-ball incident was Rodrigo Echeverría, who plays for CA Huracán, according to Transfermarkt.

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Echeverría’s challenge was similar to one made by Unai Bustinza during a La Liga game a couple of years ago.

Unai Bustinza, who was playing for Leganes at the time, literally wrestled Messi down as the Argentine made a clever run past him with the ball.

The referee spotted the incident and booked the Spain international.

Former Chelsea star scores bizarre own goal

Still on the Copa America, Sports Brief reported on Kasey Palmer’s bizarre own goal during the Jamaica versus Ecuador game.

The Ecuadorians took the lead in the 13th minute in bizarre circumstances, as former Chelsea star Kasey Palmer inadvertently put the ball into his own net.

A video of the incident shows Palmer attempting to block a cross from Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie, but the deflected ball somehow beat the goalkeeper to float into the net from a fair distance out.