Messi celebrated the most and yelled ‘dance now’ to ex-teammate

Lionel Messi celebrated effusively during the penalty shootout in the Copa America semifinal between Argentina and Colombia. Argentina media TyC Sports reported that Messi celebrated the saves by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez like no other, shouted for the successful penalties and took his revenge on former Barcelona defender Yerry Mina.

While Messi is not know for getting angry or showing excessive emotions, he took digs at Colombian defender Mina, yelling 'dance now' after the latter missed his penalty in the shootout.

Goalkeeper Emilano Martinez, who tried to distract Colombia's players in the shootout with a barrage of trash talk, saved from Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona.

Lionel Messi, Leandro Paredes and Lautaro Martinez scored for Argentina as they booked a spot against the host nation in Saturday's final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium.

The exclusive camera of TyC Sports perfectly portrayed each of Messi's gestures but beyond the raw emotions were the motivations of a captain finding joy in leading his side.

Messi also came in under quite a bit of roughhousing from Colombia defenders and after a particularly brutal Frank Fabra tackle, the Barca star suffered an injury to his left ankle, which immediately started bleeding. He would go on to play the whole second half with a bloody ankle but that did not stop him from delivering during the shootout. Later he remarked 'it was easier' against European players.

Blood seen on Messi's ankle after a tackle. Photo: Reuters

"Already in the last Cup the group had become strong, had finished with a good image and again we went from lowest to highest. Many times it is easier to play against Europeans than this type of game because there are more spaces and more is played. We tried and luckily it was given to us," the Argentina captain told TyC Sports after the game during an exclusive interview.