First, he sank to the ground, grimacing. Play continued for a few seconds and then came the communal gasp.

Lionel Messi was down. And Lionel Messi is not a player who goes down for nothing.

Argentina’s playmaker and talisman clutched his right ankle. He had fallen on his own, with no obvious kick to point to as the cause of the injury that he knew meant his evening was over.

He took off his right boot and stood up gingerly. The physios asked him how he was but they must have known. He shuffled to the touchline, every step a little dagger in Argentine hearts. Then the board went up: Nicolas Gonzalez on, Messi off.

Messi walked slowly to the bench and threw his boot onto the floor. He sunk into his seat, placing his face in his hands. Leandro Paredes, his team-mate, ruffled his hair but said nothing. What was there to say?

A second or two later, the camera returned to Messi, zooming in on the most recognisable face in football. Humanity, even. And Messi, the arch stoic, was no longer able to hold back the emotion.

The crowd chanted his name. Messi was sobbing.

The tears were for the moment — Argentina needed him; they always do — but it was impossible to abstract them from the wider context. For Messi, wherever he treads in this extended career outro, is always accompanied by the unmistakable sense of an ending.

Messi is 37. He confirmed earlier in the week that this was to be his final edition of the competition. The mood music around the Argentina camp has suggested that it might be his last major tournament, period. He will be 38 when the next World Cup starts in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and will turn 39 during the tournament.

Those endless summer days spent watching Messi gambol around the football pitches of our souls? They could now be numbered.

Stopping is never an appealing prospect for any sportsperson. Athletes die twice, they say. Messi’s incredible longevity — and continued excellence — has been an effective shield against retirement talk but no one can run forever. At some stage, everything you do becomes the last time. Everything comes laced with heavy finality.

Messi, clearly, seems to have some inkling of what awaits him on the other side of the great beyond. “I am a bit scared of it all ending,” he told ESPN Argentina earlier this year. “I try not to think about it. I try to enjoy it. I do that more now because I’m aware there’s not a lot of time left.”

Here, on a stifling, charged night at the Hard Rock Stadium, he surely wasn’t banking on being denied a chunk of that remaining balance. As he sat there on the bench, an ice pack on his swollen ankle and yellow vest covering his blue and white jersey, it was tempting to wonder what was going through Messi’s mind.

(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps, in that instance, he simply became a fan. Perhaps the vision of the team playing without him — an image he will have to get used to in the decades ahead — twisted his already knotted guts into new, uncomfortable shapes.

Post-game, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said that Messi didn’t want to come off but his injury rendered any other option redundant.

“Leo has something that everyone should have,” said Scaloni. “He’s the best in history and, even with an ankle like that, he doesn’t want to go off.

“It’s not because he’s selfish but because he doesn’t want to let his team-mates down. He was born to be on a pitch.”

At least there was, in the end, relief. When Lautaro Martinez stroked home the winning goal four minutes before midnight in Miami, it was telling that the biggest huddle of players was not around the scorer. No, Argentina’s players flocked to Messi, their guiding light.

(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)

“When we talk about players who have left a mark on the history of football, we try to extend their careers when we begin to see the end,” his Inter Miami coach, Tata Martino, said recently. “I believe that Leo and his family are preparing themselves for when that ending will come. It comes for everyone.”

It has not come for Messi quite yet. He will play on in MLS when this injury heals, maybe even do his bit to get Argentina to the World Cup, but this was the final episode of Messi Does Tournaments and another staging post on the way to The End. The real end. The day this absurd, magical, laugh-out-loud-good little sprite of a footballer skips away into the past tense.

“I’m lucky I can do something I’m passionate about,” Messi said in the Apple documentary about his American adventure. “I know these are my last years and I know when I don’t have this, I’m going to miss it dearly because no matter how many things I find to do, nothing is going to be like this.”

No more big finals, potentially. No more nights like this, raw and glorious for his nation. And so, long before the celebrations, he cried. You could understand it.

(Top photos: Juan Mabromata; Buda Mendez; Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images; design: Ray Orr)

Ramón Jesurún, the president of the Colombian Football Federation, was arrested Sunday night during a chaotic Copa América final between Colombia and Argentina at Hard Rock Stadium.

Jesurún, who also serves as the vice president of CONMEBOL, the governing body for Copa América, is facing three felony counts of battery on a specified official or employee after being accused of fighting security guards at the stadium, per Miami-Dade Police Department’s arrest report of the incident. 

The incident also involved his son, 43-year-old Ramón Jamil Jesurún. 

Jesurún, 71, is also a member of the FIFA council. He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center around 4:15 a.m. on Monday, per jail records. 

The arrest report states that the father-son duo fought security guards holding people back from a tunnel where the media were gathering following the 1-0 Colombia loss to Argentina in the Copa América final. This occurred around 12:20 a.m. on Monday.

COPA AMÉRICA CHAOS ‘SHOULD NEVER HAVE TAKEN PLACE,’ MIAMI-DADE OFFICIALS SAY

Police say they were “irate” and started “shouting” at a guard, who placed his hand on the younger Jesurún’s chest to “guide him back.” That’s when things got physical, as the elder Jesurún allegedly stepped forward and pushed the guard. 

Then, the younger Jesurún is accused of grabbing the guard’s neck and punching him, according to the report. 

They were expected to appear in Miami court Monday afternoon following their arrests. 

This chaotic scene at the end of the match came after pure pandemonium took place beforehand, as several fans rushed past security and stadium attendants without tickets and sprinted toward seats, which delayed the start of the match for more than an hour. 

Miami-Dad County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Chief Public Safety Officer James Reyes criticized the situation. 

Policemen talk with fans outside the stadium prior to the Copa America final soccer match between Argentina and Colombia  in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, July 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

“Our top priority must be the safety and security of all our residents and visitors, and we urge everyone in attendance at tonight’s game to abide by all directives from law enforcement and security personnel for the safety of all attendees,” they said, adding that more than 550 officers were assigned to the stadium along with more personnel brought out of Miami-Dade Police’s jurisdiction to help. 

“Let’s be clear: The situation should never have taken place and cannot happen again. We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events takes place immediately to evaluate the full chain of events, in order to put in place needed protocols and policies and all future games.”

ARGENTINA SHOW THEY’RE PREPARED FOR LIFE WITHOUT LIONEL MESSI IN COPA AMÉRICA FINAL

Not only did a stampede happen that displaced children from parents and injured some in the process, Hard Rock Stadium saw destruction as well. Videos showed fans completely destroying an escalator leading to the ’72 Club,’ while others attempted to enter the stadium through airducts. 

The chaos that ensued at Hard Rock Stadium led one fan caught up in the mess to believe at least Miami isn’t prepared for the 2026 World Cup.

“They can’t organize a World Cup! It’s impossible,” a fan named Claudia told The Associated Press in Spanish. “People stuck against the gate for hours, unable to breathe. There was a senior citizen, look at him, look at him (motioning at his young son), left without water. No water, nothing.”

“It is tough to explain what happened before the game,” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni added through an interpreter. “We had players waiting for their family members to get into the stadium, waiting for an hour. We had to start a match without knowing where our family members were. I think the players for Colombia were going through the same thing. It was very weird.”

Hard Rock Stadium issued a statement as well, noting the many ticket holders who didn’t get to experience the match despite paying thousands for seats. 

“We understand there are disappointed ticket holders who were not able to enter the stadium after the perimeter was closed and we will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address those individual concerns,” the stadium added. “Ultimately, there is nothing more important than the health and safety of all guests and staff, and that will always remain our priority.

Ramon Jesurun, president of Colombia’s Federation of Football ‘FCF’ during the Colombia Vs USA Womens U20 friendly preparatory match in Bogota, Colombia’s El Campin Stadium for the 2024 U20 Womens Wold Cup, on February 25, 2024. (Sebastian Barros/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“We will continue to work with law enforcement to identify and hold criminals accountable who engaged in illegal conduct tonight. It is disappointing that a night of celebration was impacted by unlawful and unsafe behavior, and we will fully review the processes and protocols in place tonight and work with law enforcement to ensure such an event never happens again.”

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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Minnesota Vikings receiver Jordan Addison was arrested Friday night after the California Highway Patrol found him asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle that was blocking traffic near Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

According to an arrest report released by the CHP, the department received an alert at approximately 11:06 p.m. about a disabled vehicle blocking traffic exiting the westbound 105 Freeway to northbound Sepulveda Boulevard. An officer responded and found a white Rolls-Royce stopped in one of the lanes with the driver, identified in the report as Addison, asleep behind the wheel.

A DUI investigation was completed, and Addison, who played for USC during the 2022 season, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence at approximately 11:36 p.m. According to the report, Addison was released at 1:36 a.m. Saturday. No other details are available at this time.

“We are aware of Jordan Addison’s arrest this past Friday and are currently gathering more information regarding the incident,” the Vikings said in a statement Sunday.

Addison played football at Tuscarora High in Frederick, Md., before spending the first two years of his college career at the University of Pittsburgh. As a sophomore in 2021, Addison won the Fred Biletnikoff Award for best receiver in the country after catching 100 passes for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns.

He transferred to USC for his junior year and caught 59 passes for 875 yards and eight touchdowns during a season in which Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy. After being selected by the Vikings with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 draft, Addison played in every game last season and finished with 70 receptions for 911 yards and a team-high 10 receiving touchdowns.

Last July, Addison was cited after being caught driving 140 mph in a 55-mph zone on Interstate 94 in St. Paul, Minn. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, paid a fine and lost his license for six months.