LIONEL MESSI ENTERED A CHAOTIC U.S. STADIUM, SOBBED, WON — AND MIGHT GO AWAY

Sports also demands close attention in our wretched land, with 7,000 non-ticketed fans crashing into a Miami stadium before Messi was injured, cried and won perhaps his last international tournament

     If we dared to wonder why he was sobbing, do consider this: Lionel Messi eventually smiled past midnight with a trophy. His swollen right ankle was in serious pain after he left the game in the second half, putting on a slipper. He is 37 and never has committed to playing the next World Cup for Argentina, which would happen in our not-so-united states in two summers. His teammates managed to win Copa America without him, meaning his nation does not lose major soccer titles.

     Who knows how long he’ll stay? He could leave tomorrow or play until he’s 40. Last week, Messi said, “I intend to keep living day by day without thinking about what will come in the future or whether I'll continue or not. It's something I just live each day. I'm 37 years and only God knows when the end will be.”

     But earlier, he said, “I know the moment that I know I'm not performing, that I'm not enjoying myself, that I'm not helping my teammates. I’m very self-critical. I know when I am good, when I am bad, when I play well, when I play badly. When I feel it is time to take that step and retire, I will take it without thinking about age.” This was his 39th Copa America appearance. He scored one goal in the tournament.

     It was important to see the moment in Miami, when he fell to the turf and threw his cleated shoe in anger before the 1-0 victory. “Messi had to leave because of that ankle problem, but finally we were able to give him some joy,” said Angel Di Maria, who is retiring from international football. Might Messi join him in saying goodbye?

     As the night began, Messi was caught in our nation’s wretchedness, which was sad and horrendous. With a girl on his left and a boy on his right, he walked into Hard Rock Stadium and looked wearily through the stands. This was another illness of hostility in our borders, and his concern involved derelicts watching the final game. The football god was doing his duty and celebrating, his hands holding other hands, but who were the idiots who didn’t have tickets and rumbled through the gates? How many?

     Seven thousand people.

     Only hours after Donald Trump’s head was almost turned into farmland mulch, we had rage outside the home field of the Dolphins. Fans wearing mostly Colombia’s colors showed up at the entry areas and decided they’d bulge into the corridors over railings. Never mind the security workers, the police and other fans who had tickets. There was no official attempt to keep them away, from 6 a.m. throughout the day, and numerous arrests were made as they broke down the southwest gate. People were fainting in the sickly heat, desperate for water, but they remained in the mass of muck. Screams and cries for help were heard.

     In a culture of gunfire and wrath, should we wonder what happens to sports? The approaching presidential election has spilled into bedlam, and if 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks can leave a rifle range south of Pittsburgh and direct rally gunfire at Trump, what’s next in a maelstrom of heavy emotions, gambling and win-lose chaos? I will be headed to the Summer Olympics in Paris. Think I’m concerned? I will be going to major NFL and college games in September and October. Think I’m anxious?

     With the stadium on lockdown, a statement was announced: “In anticipation of tonight's Copa America final, thousands of fans without tickets attempted to forcibly enter the stadium, putting other fans, security and law enforcement officers at extreme risk. Security has shut the gates in order to control the entry process at a much slower rate and ensure everyone is kept safe.” The game was delayed for more than 75 minutes until 9:22 p.m. ET.

     But think about players whose families were entering the event. Messi’s teammate, midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, had to help his mother through a mess she described as “inhumane.” Imagine waiting in a tunnel to help family members before one of the biggest games of his life.

     “Alexis had to leave the locker room to help us get in because he was worried. I thought (the game) couldn't continue," his mother, Silvina, wrote on social media. “I thought the game wouldn't be played because if the players thought they would resolve this, impossible that it would be played. It was inhumane. We are okay. We were in communication with Alexis the whole time, but he said he would stay outside until we would come in. He waited for us until we came in.”

     The Miami-Dade Police Department warned about “the unruly behavior of fans.” No one read a release from South America’s governing soccer body, CONMEBOL, warning fans not to show up without tickets. Copa America has been a shabby wreck, including an episode in Charlotte, when Uruguay players rushed into the stands amid a conflict with Colombia. “A plague of liars,” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa called organizers. No wonder fans without tickets were able to park cars near Hard Rock Stadium. Why not have attendants check real credentials? Something, anything?

     “Let's be clear: This situation should have never taken place and cannot happen again,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cara.

     Eventually, fans took seats or stood — reasonably or otherwise — and a physical game began. What would happen in the stands? What would happen afterward when skirmishes almost happened on the field? Did anyone think about anything but making a buck in a non-World Cup event?

     At least Messi played for a while, giving those at home something to do in peace. And Shakira sang, something about her hips still not lying, which delayed the second half even longer. But a side of me asks if we’re reaching a point where sport doesn’t need stadium fans. Sunday, it was Colombia doing the storming. What goes down next?

     The worst awaits us.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.