Lionel Messi admitted that the impact of Argentina's loss in the opener of Copa America 2019, being held in Brazil, against Colombia will last for a while. Argentina suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat at the hands of Colombia with goals from Roger Martinez and Duvan Zapata on Saturday.
The Argentine legend stated that it will take time to get over the loss but he has urged his teammates to stay focused and prepare for the upcoming fixture. "It will take us a while to accept and process the defeat. We have to look at the mistakes we made, and find the positives," he was quoted by the Independent.
He added that he has told his teammates not to lament the past so that they can perform properly in the match against Paraguay, even though the loss against Colombia has made it difficult for Argentina to qualify from the group as leaders. "It's not the best way to start, but if we keep lamenting and don't move on, if we don't pick ourselves up, we won't be prepared to face Paraguay in the next match," the star footballer explained.
Argentina will face Paraguay in their second Group B match on Wednesday in Belo Horizonte. Paraguay are coming into the match after drawing 2-2 with Qatar and will love to upset the Argentine team.
This will be, in all probability, Messi's last attempt at winning the Copa America as he will be 35 when the next Copa comes. The Argentine maestro desperately wants to end his trophy drought for the national team.
On the other hand Chile and Uruguay have started their Copa America campaigns with thumping victories over Japan and Ecuador respectively. Both the teams defeated their opponents 4-0 with goals from Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Alexis Sanchez.
