When the whistle blew to end the final, Messi — his relief palpable — dropped to his knees and was immediately surrounded by his teammates.
“I needed to remove the thorn of being able to achieve something with the national team,” Messi said after the celebrations in the dressing room, according to The Associated Press.
His friend Ángel Di María delivered the prize at last, putting Argentina ahead in the 22nd minute after coolly collecting a long cross-field pass to the right wing from the deep-lying midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.
Messi had carried Argentina over the last month in Brazil as he chased the kind of trophy he had coveted for so long.
The sting of repeated failures — at the World Cup in 2014, and in the Copa América final in 2015 and again in 2016 — had seen Messi retire from the national team at least twice.
Richarlison thought he had tied the score in the 52nd minute when he ran on to a lead ball from Lucas Paquetá and slotted home a low shot.