Lionel Messi was left in tears after suffering what appeared to be an injury around the 64th minute of Sunday’s Copa America final.
The global soccer superstar appeared to have sustained the injury while running after the ball, seemingly taking a wrong turn with his foot and sending him tumbling to the ground.
Messi, visibly in pain, lay on the ground until Argentina’s team trainer arrived to check on him.
Messi was eventually able to get up and limped off the pitch, where the Argentine fans at Hard Rock Stadium gave him a standing ovation as his team went on to beat Colombia 1-0 to win their second consecutive Copa America title.
The Argentine striker entered the dugout and hurled his shoe in frustration.
Minutes later, Messi was seen on the bench, crying and covering his face after being substituted for Nicolas Gonzalez.
Fox’s broadcast later showed Messi applying ice to his badly swollen right ankle, raising hope, at least temporarily, that the injury was not too serious.
Messi was still overcome with emotion as the camera panned to him and fans could be heard chanting his name in the background.
He was seen walking around in sandals while celebrating with his teammates after the win.
At injury time, Argentina and Colombia were scoreless.
One of football’s greats has been plagued by a foot injury for much of the tournament, missing Argentina’s final group game and there were doubts over Messi’s participation in the quarter-final against Ecuador.
Early in the match, Messi took an awkward step while chasing the ball and appeared to make contact with Colombia’s Santiago Arias, then went down with a leg injury in the first half.
However, Messi continued to play after the incident.
He had one shot in the finals.
