2024 Copa America: Lionel Messi calls for Argentina to 'do it our way' after winning opener v Canada

Lionel Messi insists Argentina will not compromise their identity after storming to a 2-0 win over Canada in the opening match of the 2024 Copa America.

Julian Alvarez gave the 2022 World Cup winners the lead after being set up by Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.

The match marked Messi's 35th appearance at the Copa America, making him the player with the most appearances in the competition's history.

The forward marked the occasion by providing an assist for Lautaro Martinez to double Argentina's lead with two minutes left to play.

Messi believes his side know what they need to do to achieve their goals. "As always, as always. We know that we have to be a team and in the right way of achieving our goals," he said.

"We know that the only path to do so is in our own way, so we will continue with the same humility and desire to win.

"Yeah, we've always known how tough the opening game is. The most important thing is to get off to a winning start.

"It's not happened previously under [Lionel] Scaloni, so that calms things down because you suffer a lot when you start off losing. But we always play the same way.

"We're in a difficult group and now we have to face a very good and competitive team [Chile]. [Ricardo] Gareca's arrival has given them something else as well.

"So yeah, we're happy to have started with a win, but we're now going to rest and prepare for Chile."

After facing Chile, Argentina's final game in Group A will see them face Peru.

Messi's side sparked controversy against Canada after returning to the field for the second half later than originally planned. Canada manager Jesse Marsch believes Argentina should be fined for doing so.

"Now I wish again the referees would manage that. If we were five minutes late, we'd get a fine," Marsch said.

"There'd be a big problem. Let's see what happens with Argentina. I think they have to be fined. How late were they? Was it 20 minutes? 30?

"I don't know, it was a long time, but they had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which, if we had known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes, then we could have prepared some things more.

"But in the end, I just made sure that the players knew that they were going to come out with a new plan, and they basically rotated a little bit more to three. But we still dealt with it really well, still dealt with it really well."

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