Lionel Messi aims to end 22 years of hurt in Copa America finale
Star forward could cap an incredible season against Chile by helping his country win the regional competition for the first time since 1993
The three-week South American football showpiece reaches its climax at the Estadio Nacional with a dream final pitting the favourites against the hosts, and the stakes could not be any higher for both sides.
This generation is desperate to win a title with the national team
Messi heads a star-studded Argentina desperate to write their own piece of history by winning a first international title since 1993, 12 months after an agonising defeat to Germany in last year's World Cup final.
Chile, meanwhile, are anxious to finally shed their unwanted tag as the perennial nearly men of South American football, ending 99 years of hurt by winning a first Copa America.
It would also erase the sense of frustration Messi has often felt at international level, 10 years after he led Argentina to victory as a teenager in the 2005 Under-20 World Cup.
"This generation is desperate to win a title with the national team," Messi said on the eve of the Copa America.