The Copa América Centenario final between Argentina and Chile didn’t produce any goals in regular or extra time, but it still managed to produce lots of drama. Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuaín missed a one-on-one chance to put his team up early in the match. Then, Brazilian referee Héber Roberto Lopes stole the show from stars Lionel Messi and Alexis Sánchez, handing out several yellow cards and two red cards that left each team with only 10 players. When the game went to penalties, Messi blew his penalty shot, which could have boosted Argentina to victory. After Argentina’s Lucas Biglia also missed his penalty, Chile’s Francisco Silva converted, crowning Chile the Copa América Centenario champs.
At the end of the match, this shot of Lionel Messi crying was EVERYWHERE. This little girl decided to lend him a helping hand:
Loyal Messi fans be like… #ARGvCHI #CopaAmerica #Argentina pic.twitter.com/b7LABwaA4v
— ESPN One Nación (@onenacion) June 27, 2016
BTW, it’s photoshopped.
But this is how it began: with yellow card after yellow card from referee Heber Lopes.
Pretty much sums up the first half.. #CopaAmerica #CHIvsARG pic.twitter.com/ItmTjefcTq
— Diego Ibarra (@fo_reeeeeal) June 27, 2016
It was kinda like having Oprah on the field.
The ref during this #ARGvCHI match be like pic.twitter.com/rVuCkbghgP
— True Soccer Life (@TrueSCRLife) June 27, 2016
Lopes was handing out so many cards that he became the focal point of the match.
The ref, right now… #ARGvCHI pic.twitter.com/YgSEOlk4z0
— Julio Santos (@montezumafox) June 27, 2016
But soon, this missed penalty became the talk of the tourney.
Which one of you monsters did this? #CopaAmerica https://t.co/a6H0kuWFTS
— Ryan Catanese (@rcatanese) June 27, 2016
Where did the ball land? Well…
REPORT: Lionel Messi's missed penalty has been spotted in space by NASA. #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/8zmsyq6d6v
— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) June 27, 2016
This Twitter user predicted the avalanche of Messi memes.
When you realize you're about to get turned into six trillion memes on Twitter and FB#CopaAmerica #CopaAmericaFINAL pic.twitter.com/iCVE3kz48P
— Ziya Ul Haq (@_xziya) June 27, 2016
Chile’s Alexis Sánchez was spotted behind a teary-eyed Messi with a familiar look.
When the smartest kid in the class gets an answer wrong but you get it right. #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/1vSfKZl0yb
— Nemecinho (@internetpeep) June 27, 2016
Argentina’s flag was given an emoji update.
Jajajajaja pic.twitter.com/ndRozM3avI
— El Chicharito (@ElChicharit0) June 27, 2016
And Crying Jordan made his inevitable appearance. On the field…
Chile beats Argentina!!! #CopaAmerica #ARGvCHI pic.twitter.com/XsQfUzuM3C
— Crying Jordan (@CryingJordan) June 27, 2016
On the bench…
When you've made it to 3 international finals and lost all 3. #CopaAmerica #Chile #ARGvCHI pic.twitter.com/dNxsZ3TmTf
— Rip (@futps3PS) June 27, 2016
And on the flag.
Damn It, Messi. ? pic.twitter.com/RVv7wAgl84
— BAYERN SQUAD (@FCBayernSquad) June 27, 2016
A few people switched things up. One went with Crying Messi…
My contribution to the Messi memes begins now pic.twitter.com/M7vZabCYps
— Cin (@Marvelcin) June 27, 2016
And another with Crying Lebron.
Nobody is safe. #Messi smh pic.twitter.com/DAmZdbCiU3
— Tovares Grey † (@ItsJustTovares) June 27, 2016
This summed up how hard it is to shake off a tough loss…
When your team loses and your girl says "It's okay. It's just a game" pic.twitter.com/c2uNaGWhFA
— True Soccer Life (@TrueSCRLife) June 27, 2016
And this was a savage description of what a second place team looks like.
Letal… #copaamerica pic.twitter.com/kWWveB7t3t
— Japo Ruperto (@Japo_Ruperto) June 27, 2016
And to cap it all off, Pitbull performed at the closing ceremony. Some weren’t down with it:
Cuando escuchas a Pitbull cantar en vivo pic.twitter.com/2ZahYGfZWL
— Viejo Paulinonsson® (@el_viejopaulino) June 27, 2016
But wait — there’s more! If you really want to talk about rubbing salt in someone’s wound… this is how Chile’s Alexis Sánchez celebrated:
READ: This Lady Went To Support Her Soccer Team And Ended Up A Meme
