“Champions of America”: Inside Lionel Messi and Argentina’s Copa America victory

A new Netflix documentary titled “Sean Eternos: Campeones de America” or “Champions of America” premieres today, Thursday, November 3. This documentary takes you through the emotional journey that was Argentina’s 2021 Copa America victory. Before that, Argentina’s national team had not won a major tournament in 28 years, despite having Lionel Messi - the best player in the world - on its team for the majority of that time.

The documentary drops just weeks before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which is set to be Messi’s final World Cup of his career, and thus last time playing with the Argentina national team. In the film, there is footage of Messi hyping up his teammates in the locker room ahead of their defeat against Brazil. The tournament was originally supposed to take place in Argentina and Colombia, but it was postponed and moved to Brazil due to the covid-19 pandemic.

“There is no such thing as coincidence. You know what? This cup was supposed to be played in Argentina,” Messi said to his teammates. “God brought it here. He brought it here to lift it up in the Maracanã Stadium, so that it would be even more beautiful for everyone.”

Messi captained the team to a 1-0 win over Brazil in the Maracanã Stadium last year, and in the documentary, we see how his speech inspired the team ahead of the game.

“Forty-five days without seeing our families, guys,” Messi said in the locker room. “We had a goal, and we’re one small step away from reaching it.”

“So let’s go out there confident and calm. We’re bringing this one home.”

When Argentina managed to get their hands on that trophy, it was even more meaningful for Messi, as it was one of the only trophies he hadn’t won. As Argentina heads to the World Cup in Qatar, they look to get their first World Cup victory since 1986, and Lionel Messi will be looking to lift that final, last trophy before he hangs up his cleats for good.