Messi vs. James: A tale of two captains in the Copa America final

While Lionel Messi has enjoyed an illustrious club career and finally captured the World Cup in 2022, the star of James Rodriguez burnt brightest some 10 years ago, since when it has rarely flickered.

The two will shake hands ahead of kickoff in Miami, where Messi is now winding down his playing days; James has been based in Brazil for the past year but is yet to make much of a mark.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how they both arrived at this point and considers what could lie ahead.

One game away from winning Argentina's 16th Copa America title - which would put them ahead of Uruguay in the all-time rankings - Lionel Scaloni's current squad have certainly produced when it really matters most.

After finally ending their Copa drought in 2021, La Albiceleste went on to beat France in a classic World Cup final, and this weekend they will travel to Florida - home of captain Lionel Messi, who stars for MLS club Inter Miami - for another showpiece occasion.

The 2024 Copa America decider takes place on Sunday, when the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could conceivably play his last game in the famous blue-and-white colours of his national team.

Messi insists he has no plans to retire just yet, but beloved colleagues Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria are apparently set to leave the stage, as Argentina's next generation move towards the World Cup in 2026.

Whatever his future afterwards, Messi scored his first goal at this year's tournament - and the 14th of a stellar career - as Scaloni's men marched into their second straight Copa America final with a 2-0 win over Canada.

The 37-year-old doubled Argentina's lead early in the second half, helping his country reach a sixth final in the last eight editions of CONMEBOL's main event.

Post-match, the Albiceleste's inspirational skipper said: "I'm enjoying it very much and being aware, as with Fideo (Di Maria) and Ota (Otamendi), that these are the last battles."

For his part, Scaloni reiterated that he will try to convince both Di Maria and Messi to continue their long and decorated international careers.

In 2016, the latter announced his retirement after missing a penalty in Argentina's Copa America final defeat to Chile, but since reversing that decision soon after he has added 54 more goals in 73 appearances.

This time, though, it really could be the end - so might Messi sign off in style, or will it be Colombia's captain that lifts the trophy instead?

At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, James Rodriguez was at the very peak of his powers, and a spectacular showing in Colombia's last-16 clash with Uruguay brought the mercurial playmaker to global attention.

Scoring both goals that day - the first was later voted 'goal of the tournament' and went on to win the prestigious Puskas Award - also made him a national hero, and claiming the golden boot capped off a magnificent summer.

His 25-yard blockbuster made every highlights reel on every network, so it was no surprise when Real Madrid came calling and made Rodriguez the fourth-most expensive signing ever.

Of course, it never quite worked out at the Bernabeu, and such heights seemed a long way behind when the ex-Porto and Monaco man appeared as a pale shadow of his former self during spells at Everton and in Qatar.

The Cucuta-born star - who once had a brief spell with Banfield in Argentina - also wandered in and out of Bayern Munich and Olympiakos en route to current club Sao Paulo, where he has endured more frustration so far.

Now 33, having celebrated his birthday on Friday, Rodriguez arrived at the Copa America having managed less than an hour of league action this season, so naturally questions were raised about his form and fitness.

Having been left out of Colombia's 2021 squad by former boss Reinaldo Rueda for similar reasons, he could only watch on from afar as his colleagues fell in the semi-finals, losing on penalties to Argentina.

Three years later, Rodriguez has been installed as captain by current coach Nestor Lorenzo, and Los Cafeteros will reconvene with the same opponents.

Now into only a third Copa America final, their skipper's set-piece deliveries have proved integral to their progress so far; supposedly stationed on the right of a three-man attack, he is highly influential in what is effectively a free role.

A 5-0 win over Panama in the quarter-finals saw him set up the first goal with a corner, score the second from a penalty, and then his free kick set up Luis Diaz to put Colombia three goals ahead and essentially decide the tie.

But he was not finished there: CONMEBOL named Rodriguez 'Man of the Match' in the semi-final win over Uruguay, after he took his tally of assists to six at the tournament - more than any other player.

In fact, that total - which could still be improved on Sunday - set a new Copa America record, beating Messi's five from the 2021 edition. To underline the size of the feat, he also became the first South American to record six assists at any major tournament since Pele in 1970.

Colombia are now unbeaten in 28 matches - a run that stretches back two years - and claiming a second continental crown 23 years after their first is within touching distance.

Surely such a fairytale finish would be too much to ask for a player often labelled a 'wasted talent', but stranger things have happened in international football.