2 min: It’s 85 degrees (Fahrenheit, obviously – we’re not on Venus) and humid, and Argentina are still pressing the Colombian defense as if their lives depending on it.

Argentina win a corner kick.

1 min: A half-chance for Argentina already.

We’re finally underway at 9:23 pm ET.

It’s partially paywalled, but veteran Miami soccer writer Michelle Kaufman has a recap of how things transpired to this point.

The new kickoff time is …

Well, they haven’t said. But the bad news is that they’re just about to start the national anthems … after a few more repetitions of the Copa theme music. Ah, at last, they’ve cut it.

So the good news is that they’re just about to start the national anthems.

Back to the more mundane matter of what we’re supposed to do after the Copa/Euro double ends, Jeremy Spinks writes, “Can I suggest getting back to worrying about football transfers like we are meant to do for 8 weeks?”

Yeah, what’s the latest on Alphonso Davies?

We have a report on fans being treated by medical personnel:

I’ve seen a couple of suggestions that the game shouldn’t be played tonight at all.

Just me speaking here – I would be absolutely terrified to be in that stadium if they were to cancel the proceedings.

Paul Mason asks: “How are you managing staying up so late? We are on the espresso martinis and energy drinks.”

Being in the USA helps. The sun just set a few minutes ago.

Of course, I’m the maniac who covers Olympic sports even when they’re in Asia and I end up sleeping during the day, so …

Joe Pearson argues with my take on the best cover version ever: “OMG, as the kids don’t say anymore. The best cover of all time is clearly Santana’s take on Black Magic Woman. I will accept no substitutes!”

That’s quite good as well.

Fans going to the game, or a cut scene from Ocean’s 11?

Our match officials are …

Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
AR 1: Bruno Pires (BRA)
AR 2: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
4th Official: Juan Benitez (PAR)
5th Official: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
VAR: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
AVAR: Danilo Manis (BRA)

Messi has had a run-in with Claus in the past. The language used was improper for this forum. (I think. I’ve never officially asked.)

Joe Pearson checks back in to say Rosemary Clooney’s originals are better than the cover versions to which he was listening.

Along those lines, can we all agree that The Sundays’ version of Wild Horses is the best cover version ever?

Rob Coughlin writes: “Your, ‘The next World Cup will be held here’ is very offensive as a Miami native. But I’m sure this could never happen in a place like….London.”

I’m a boring American, so I can’t speak for Britain, but I think the days of crowd crushes and other disasters are well in the past by now. Did I forget something from the Olympics?

In any case – in case you’re not watching Fox, this is indeed a topic of conversation on the broadcast.

Ryan Casey, though, offers this defense: “While I do understand the side-eyed reactions at the U.S given the 2026 WC is approaching shortly, this is very much a CONMEBOL issue more than a national one. The U.S is second to none in private security contracting (not something I brag about granted), but given how the South American federation has handled other logistical facets of this tournament, I doubt any of them were deployed tonight.”

I’ll say this – a lot of people doubted that the 2002 Winter Olympics should go forward. I’ve never felt safer in my life than I did was there. Everything was locked down. Same for Beijing, but the games I covered in the rest of the country were a little less organized. In Torino, the police seemed like they were going to turn on us at any time, like the stormtroopers did to the Jedi.

How bad is it?

I was tempted to counter with some of the wilder things I’ve seen in my journalism career – being stranded by the media bus in Qinhuangdao was stressful but kind of funny in hindsight, and I covered emotionally charged protests during the 1991 Gulf War, but then I got this email from Kathryn Cehrs:

“After Colombian fans stormed the gates at 6:00 the stadium locked the gates until 7:30. No one entered in that time. At 7:30 they let in 3 people at a time through the gates. This continued until 8:00. At 8:00 at the SE gate they opened all the gates all the way. There was an extreme crowd surge/crush. There were no security checks or ticket checks. The entire crowd shoved through the gates at once. After the crowd got through they closed the gates again. I literally fought for my life. I felt something in my chest snap and I lost a shoe in the crush. I am lucky to be alive.”

This is truly heartbreaking.

Liz White has an idea for what to do in a post-Copa summer: “I have a project I’ve been meaning to start with all my sports-free time. I want to try the chaat papri at as many different South Asian take-outs as possible, in the hunt for the best one. I think the key is the balance between the crispiness of the wafers and the mess of all the sauces but I’ll need to do research to be sure. If I’m really craving sports there’s always the baseball.”

I, on the other hand, will be continuing my weight-loss efforts. And finishing up my giant Olympic viewing guide.

Fox just showed a view from outside the stadium. Please tell me I didn’t see lightning …

Hmmmm … nothing on the radar.

OK, now that time will be the actual time. Right?

Players are warming up, and we’re getting camera shots of packed stands.

Joe Pearson checks in: “Big sports day today, and man am I tired. Tour this morning, Wimbledon, Scottish Open final, and then the Euros. And now I have to wait for a delayed Copa final. Sigh. To take out the sting, I am listening to a Bette Midler tribute album to Rosemary Clooney. Why? I have no idea!”

If we get delayed again, I might need to take out my bass and start practicing for some upcoming shows.

But Fox seems a little less optimistic than I am. That’s bad – I’m known for my pessimism.

Jenny Taft, who has done some outstanding sideline reporting tonight, says players have been dealing with family members stuck outside. They’re not happy.

Reminder: The next World Cup will be held … here.

Good news from the stadium …

Chris Smith, who’ll be reporting on this game for The Guardian, says the stadium is now about 90% full. “It happened very quickly,” he says.

So the 8:45 kickoff time might be the final word.

Tomorrow, we have no Euro games. No Copa games. Not even a stage in the Tour de France – which may have been effectively settled today, anyway. What are we supposed to do instead? Work?

Feel free to share your ideas.

Legal game?

Robert Speed writes to point us to Law 7.2, “Half-time interval”: “Per that quaint document known as the Laws of the Game, half time may not exceed 15 minutes. So this contest is not a legitimate game under the laws. Which is a shame.”

I’m reminded of the words of Mike from the great Britcom The Young Ones.

MIKE: It’s only just gone one.

HELEN: Is that the time?

MIKE: No, time is an abstract concept. This is a wristwatch.

New time: 8:45 pm ET. But apparently the gates are open.

GK: Camilo Vargas (Atlas), who has allowed twice as many goals in this tournament as his counterpart on the other side of the field. In other words, two.

LB: Johan Mojica (Osasuna)
CB: Davinson Sanchez (Galatasaray), the only player other than Vargas to play all 450 minutes of Colombia’s games so far. He has one goal as well.
CB: Carlos Cuesta (Genk)
RB: Santiago Arias (Bahia), who has played only 63 minutes in the tournament but must fill in for Daniel Muñoz, who got a red card in the semi-final

CM: Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace), who has two goals in the tournament
CM: Richard Rios (Palmeiras)

LM: Luis Diaz (Liverpool), who also has two goals in the Copa
AM: James Rodriguez (São Paulo), who lit up Europe’s top leagues in the 2010s and led his team here with six assists
RM: Jhon Arias (Fluminense)

F: Jhon Cordoba (Krasnodar), yet another two-goal scorer in this tournament

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I’ll be back with the Colombia lineup after the presidential address. If there’s an update on kickoff time, I’ll be back sooner. Players are coming back out to warm up, so that’s a good sign that we might not be any later than 8:30 pm ET (35 minutes from now).

Assuming things calm down and we’re able to have a soccer game tonight (for those in England: a football match this morning; for those in Italy: something involving calcio), here’s how Argentina will line up …

GK: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), who has been simply brilliant and has conceded only one goal in five games

LB: Nicolas Tagliafuco (Lyon)
CB: Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), who has a goal in addition to his stellar play at the back
CB: Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur)
RB: Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), who only started one of the group-stage games and came off the bench in the quarter-final but started in the 2-0 win over Canada in the semi-final

CM: Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), the youngest player (23) getting significant playing time at the Copa
CM: Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), a bulldog who can also make some slick passes

LM: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), who has completed more than 90% of his passes
RM: Angel Di Maria (Benfica), who plans to retire from the national team after this final

F: Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), scorer of two goals so far
F: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), who is Messi

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Fans who don’t have tickets are still crowding around the stadium, which means fans that do have tickets are having trouble getting in.

Kickoff will be pushed back until 8:30 pm ET, a little less than an hour from now.

Say this for the Copa in comparison with the Euros. The Copa will have Shakira performing at halftime. Who’d Euro 2024 get?

But even the halftime show isn’t immune to criticism – and it’s coming from Nestor Lorenzo, the coach of Colombia’s team and someone you’d think would be thrilled to have such a star from Colombia appearing during the break.

The problem is that the break will be a bit longer than everyone likes – 25 minutes instead of the usual 15.

As a journalist, I’ll be busy during that time checking facts. Gotta make sure hips don’t lie.

(Sorry, that was terrible. Had to make reference to it at some point.)

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We interrupt this with breaking news …

One complaint facing Copa organizers this year has been security. Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa savagely criticized the powers that be after a brawl between his players and Colombian fans, and Canada coach Jesse Marsch said his team was treated like second-class citizens.

Surely, of course, everything will be set straight in time for the final tonight in …

Oh dear …

Well, that’s a tough act to follow, isn’t it?

The Copa América has had a tough fight for the world’s attention with Euro 2024 running concurrently. The games have been more ragged. Officials have struggled to keep control as the Dark Arts thrive. The host country was knocked out in the group stage. In some games, you might as well have skipped the 90 minutes of regulation play and gone straight to the penalty shootout.

Nevertheless, we have a compelling matchup here between two worthy finalists. Reigning World Cup champion Argentina have aged a bit over the last two years but has a superb defense sitting behind the still-potent Lionel Messi and other veteran attackers. Colombia started the year by beating Spain in a friendly, and they’ve blown out several teams over the last few months – including the United States.

And believe it or not, Colombia have only won this trophy once. What an opportunity they’ll have to double that total tonight in steamy Miami.