It was a modest record for a player as magnificent as Lionel Messi: three games, two final defeats, one red card, no goals.
But the Barcelona great's Copa America performances against Chile prior to Monday's curtain-raising clash were not entirely out of keeping with the rest of his Argentina career.
There have been moments of magic, of course, but just 15 goals across 46 Copa America and World Cup appearances ahead of this game. Meanwhile, not since 2007-08 has Messi fallen short of averaging a goal every two games for Barca, let alone one every three.
Even Messi himself could not reasonably argue his international displays have come close to the standard set at club level.
And while World Cup failures will always remain at the forefront of any such discussion – his achievements in contrast to Diego Maradona's one-man show in 1986 – the Copa America has provided its fair share of pain.
The final defeats to Chile in 2015 and 2016 were among three for Messi and four for Argentina since their 14th and most recent title in 1993.
Those two in consecutive years both came courtesy of penalty shoot-outs. Messi scored his spot-kick in the first match but missed the following year, setting his side on their way to another sore setback.
It was fitting then, it seemed, that this latest campaign – surely one of Messi's last – would start against Chile and initially start in much more encouraging fashion.
Neymar had set the standard against Venezuela the previous day.
In front of empty, hushed stands that make it impossible to ignore the influence of politics in football – a popular topic of debate in 2021 – the pace was ponderous until the world's most expensive footballer got to work.
Neymar scored one and created another in a 3-0 Brazil win. Along with five shots, he created seven chances – the most of any Selecao player in a Copa America match since his debut.
It took 33 minutes, in which the absence of an atmosphere again jarred, but Messi rose to that challenge when presented with a free-kick in a central position, dipped over the wall and beyond the grasp of Claudio Bravo.
That was one of seven Messi shots and he played four key passes, too. On paper, this ranked alongside Neymar's efforts.
By full-time, though, it was a frustratingly familiar tale, as the supporting cast proved unable to suitably assist their superstar.
Messi's excellence has excused a whole generation of Argentina internationals, absolved of blame because their great number 10 should have been able to win major tournaments alone.
Too many hugely talented players have misfired on the big stage; Lionel Scaloni sent out some past and present examples.
Lautaro Martinez is supposed to be the face of a young, new team. He had 11 goals in 23 prior internationals and should have added to that tally more than once in Rio de Janeiro.
The Inter forward failed to hit the target with any of his three attempts and optimistically appealed for a foul following two of them when he inexplicably missed from point-blank range.
And Martinez's frustration unfortunately came to the fore after 62 minutes when he lunged into an awful challenge on Charles Aranguiz under the nose of the referee and escaped with a booking.
The 23-year-old's evening might have ended early with a red card. Instead, it was cut short by the introduction of Sergio Aguero.
Chile had equalised five minutes prior to Martinez's moment of madness, one of a series of rash attempted tackles punished as a VAR review found Nicolas Tagliafico had made contact with Arturo Vidal in the area.
Vidal took the penalty and Emiliano Martinez turned it onto the crossbar, but Eduardo Vargas was on hand to nod in his 13th Copa America goal – staying three clear of Messi and climbing into the top 10 all-time.
Aguero followed Angel Di Maria onto the pitch as Argentina sought a response. Both players were not so long ago out of the picture under Scaloni, having previously been part of the Messi-led team that repeatedly came up short.
In each Chile final, Di Maria started. Aguero was introduced from the bench in one and in the XI for the other.
As on those occasions, there were no heroics from either on Monday. Di Maria, now 33, had two shots but neither troubled Bravo. Aguero, also 33, was caught offside once.
Messi will be the story if Argentina do not deliver silverware in the coming weeks, just as he will be should they finally get over the hump.
But the same problems persist. When Messi's free-kick set the stage, it was Martinez who could not step up, underwhelming again like too many past Argentina attackers.
If this is to be the tournament in which Messi reaches his promised land, he is going to need some help.
Charlie Smith strengthen second round ambition with 4-0 win over Tarrant; STATHS hammer KT 18-1
Former champions Charlie Smith High strengthened their chances of progressing to the second round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they blanked Tarrant High 4-0 in their Zone B contest at the former’s Ninth Street base on Tuesday.
The win by Charlie Smith consolidated their hold on second position on 18 points and a healthy goal difference ahead of third-placed Jonathan Grant (15 points), who will be in action against fourth-placed Waterford (10 points) on Wednesday.
Reigning champions Mona High heads the Zone on 22 points, with Tarrant in fifth on six points, while Gaynstead High remain pointless.
Elsewhere, Zone D leaders St Andrew Technical (STATHS) hammered Kingston Technical 18-1 as they continue to hold Calabar at bay in the race for the top spot. Calabar defeated Vauxhall 4-1 at their Red Hills Road base.
Both teams moved to 22 points each, with STATHS holding a four-goal advantage over Calabar, while Haile Selassie (12 points), who lost 0-2 to Camperdown (11 points), remain third. Kingston Technical is still yet to gain a point.
Tuesday’s results
STATHS 18, Kingston Technical 1
Calabar 4, Vauxhall 1
Charlie Smith 4, Tarrant 0
Ascot High 4, Pembroke Hall 2
Haile Selassie 0, Camperdown 4
Dinthill, Port Antonio High open DaCosta Cup second round with 0-0 draw
Dinthill Technical and Port Antonio High opened the second round of the 2024 ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup with a goalless draw at Carder Park on Tuesday.
For Dinthill, who finished second in Zone J of the first round on goal difference behind McGrath High, this was their second straight disappointing performance after a 1-2 loss to Charlemont High on Friday.
For Port Antonio, who comfortably won Zone M to advance to the second round, this is their second consecutive draw after eight consecutive wins to start the season.
Central High and Yallahs will face off tomorrow at Foga Road in the other Group 6 game.
Other games set for Wednesday include:
(Group 8) Christiana High vs Garvey Maceo High @Brooks Park
(Group 5) Happy Grove High vs Holmwood Tech @Carder Park
(Group 2) Ocho Rios High vs Black River High @Drax Hall
(Group 8) McGrath High vs St. Mary High @Ewarton Sports Complex
(Group 7) Glenmuir High vs Clarendon College @Glenmuir High
(Group 4) Maldon High vs Brown’s Town High @Jarrett Park
(Group 1) Cornwall College vs Kemps Hill High @Jarrett Park
(Group 3) Manning’s School vs Manchester High @Llandilo Community Centre
(Group 5) Belair High vs Denbigh High @Manchester High
(Group 4) Munro College vs Alphansus Davis High @Munro College
(Group 3) STETHS vs William Knibb Memorial @STETHS
(Group 1) Spot Valley High vs Rusea’s High @Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium
(Group 7) Paul Bogle High vs Titchfield High @York Oval
Portugal lacked 'a little bit of magic' in Scotland stalemate, says Martinez
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was in a defensive mood following his team's goalless draw away to Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday night.
After scoring in each of the Spaniard's first 12 competitive matches in charge of Portugal, the Selecao have since drawn a blank in four of their last seven matches.
Portugal did have their chances, however, registering 14 shots during the contest, though only three were on target, ending the night with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.52.
Martinez faced criticism for lacking a plan B after his side struggled to break the Scots down.
"Our talent of our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E," he told De Sporto after the match.
"We have players inside, outside, we are talking about a team that did not take risks, that defended very well.
"We are talking about a team [Portugal] that reached 53 times in the last third. We have to give credit to Scotland and to us the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet."
It was a frustrating night for Martinez and fans alike.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota among other big hitters starting, they were unable to find a way past 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made some impressive saves when they did get in on goal.
When asked what was missing from the performance, he alluded to a lack of individual quality.
"A decision, a little bit of magic in the area. We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," Martinez said.
"It was a dangerous game because we could have possession of the ball, but Scotland have little need to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the last third.
"You also have to give credit to Scotland, they had a lot of players in front of goal, their goalkeeper also made a spectacular save."
Following the performance and result at Hampden Park, there have been further questions about Martinez's selection policy for Portugal.
The most high-profile query of all remains whether 39-year-old Ronaldo should continue, having had a difficult night on his 200th start for his country.
"The national team always has an open door, but now we are talking about a very, very large group of players," said Martinez.
"It is a question of continuing to connect and synchronise what we can do. Now the game in Porto is to celebrate qualification in front of our fans."
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, meanwhile, was much happier with the evening's result, which ended a four-game losing run for Scotland.
"It's not about turning a corner, it's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight," he said.
"The point was important for us after the work the group put in to get off the mark."
The result also marked Scotland's first clean sheet since beating Gibraltar 2-0 seven games ago in a pre-Euro 2024 warm-up friendly.
The performance at the back was another thing that pleased Clarke.
"Defensively sound, the shape of the team was good," he said.
"We denied a lot of space in behind. Good concentration in the box, determined defending at times, some really good blocks, which you need against sides like Portugal.
"Everyone contributed to earn the point."
Despite taking an unexpected point, Scotland are still bottom of their Nations League group, while the draw means they are winless in 10 matches - their longest ever run.
But Clarke feels the players will take a lot from Tuesday's match that will help them going forward.
"Everyone keeps talking about confidence, but they know they can play well," he said.
"We maybe didn't play as well as we could on the ball, which could be down to fatigue. But I don't think they lack confidence. Tonight's point will give us more confidence."
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