A first time for everything

Canada’s debut collides with Argentina, inescapable Messi show

- JOE CALLAGHAN

Lionel Messi will play in his record 35th Copa America game while facing Canada in its first-ever tournament appearance.

Lionel Messi will be 37 in a couple of days. An age when we all must surrender to the reality that comfort trumps couture when it comes to footwear.

Adidas isn't letting the greatest player the modern game has seen lose his trend-setting touch just yet, however. The sportswear giant unveiled a special edition boot for Messi, which he will debut Thursday night in the Copa America opener against the Canadians.

The signature cleats are called Triunfo Dorado (or golden legacy to you and me) but are actually a salute to one of the favourite boots of his career: the F50 Prime, which he wore in a trophy-laden, record-breaking 2014-15 season.

There's comfort in the callback to a time when he was quite literally in his Prime(s). That's no longer the case, something which the Adidas commercial unwittingly alluded to.

"It doesn't matter if it's your first time or your 35th," the slogan went, pointing to Messi's imminent record-breaking 35th Copa appearance. "The only thing that matters ... is this time."

It surely wasn't intended that way by the ad men and women in the corner offices, but the commercial could have been written for Canada, too.

The Argentine captain's historic 35th time will in fact be a first time for Jesse Marsch's side, which is making its debut in a tournament that's been around for 108 years.

Throwing a stat like that out there would seem to hint at a century of Canadian ineptitude. Not the case.

This venerable old championship to crown the kings of South America has had its quirks in more recent times, and this year is expanded to 16 teams and relocated to the U.S. as a trial run for the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.