Rio de Janeiro: The Copa America 2021 is awaiting its final showdown at Maracana Stadium with the two biggest international rivals – Brazil and Argentina – locking horns in the much-awaited summit clash on Sunday.
While Brazil were dominant throughout the tournament, Argentina started slowly before picking up the pace enroute to the final. It is also the second time these two heavyweights are meeting in a Copa America final after 2007.
Another aspect that the fans would be looking for is the recipients of the Golden Boot and the Golden Glove awards. Clearly, leading the Golden Boot race is Argentine talisman Lionel Messi with four goals and would like to extend his lead in the final on Sunday.
Messi is closely followed by teammate Lautaro Martinez who has scored three goals so far. Like Messi, Martinez too will have a chance to overtake his teammate for the award. Even Papu Gomez, Neymar and Lucas Paqueta would have chances to claim their stake at the Golden Boot as all of them have two goals each and are about to play the final.
Emiliano Martinez is looking like the top-most contender for the Golden Glove award. The Aston Villa goalkeeper played the biggest possible role as Argentina sailed to the final. He made three incredible penalty saves in the shootout against Colombia in the semifinal guiding the La Albiceleste’s win.
Emiliano, who produced 15 clean sheets in the Premier League, delivered for Argentina too with four clean sheets so far conceding just twice – against Chile and Colombia. Close to him in the race for the award is the Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson. Ederson also had a phenomenal tournament for the Selecaos maintaining clean sheets in all matches except against Ecuador.
