Lionel Messi confident of perfect Copa finale

Around the Argentina base in Santiago, there’s not much of a sense they’re on the brink of history, that they are “one little step” — as Leo Messi put it — from ending a 22-year wait for a trophy.

The Barcelona playmaker was joking with manager Gerardo Martino about their old club Newell’s Old Boys on the eve of the Copa America final against hosts Chile, and that reflects the relaxed mood around the squad.

The team seems content and confident in themselves in a way they weren’t in the World Cup a year ago. Then, there was a feeling they had to defiantly fight their way through to the final defeat to Germany, given they were far off top form and fitness.