Messi back for another shot at glory
● World’s greatest player still craves the international trophy which would cement his standing
Lionel Messi was fed up and hurting three years ago, on the losing side once again at the Copa America.
“For me, the national team is over. I’ve done all I can,” Messi said after Argentina’s penalty shootout loss to Chile in the final of the 2016 tournament in the United States.
Three years later, the fivetime world player of the year is back at South America’s biggest tournament, the guy Argentina is relying on once again to end their trophy drought in international football.
Now 31, Messi is still among the best players in the world, and the stats prove it. He is coming off another prolific season for Barcelona – 51 goals in 50 matches in all competitions and leading the Catalan team to a fourth league title in five years.
Trophies at club level and personal awards just keep on coming for Messi. It’s on the international stage that he continues to fall short, meaning that for many – especially in Argentina – he still cannot compare to Diego Maradona.
Argentina go into the Copa America in Brazil without a major international trophy at senior level since 1993. That year they won the South American championship for the second time in a row and the 14th time overall. Seven years before that, Argentina won the World Cup, mainly thanks to Maradona. They reached the World Cup final in 2014 but lose out to Germany.
A quarter of a century without a big title is too long for such a football-crazy nation and it is weighing heavily on its players. Hence Messi’s emotional reaction after the 2016 final, when Argentina slumped to a second straight penalty shootout loss to Chile in the final.
When the tournament begins this evening with Brazil playing Bolivia in
Sao Paulo, the host nation will be favourites but the absence of Neymar because of an ankle injury should provide Argentina with more optimism.
“We have the best player in the world, we will try to help him so he feels comfortable,” Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul said of Messi. “But we are aware that Brazil is the favourite.”
Led by interim coach Lionel Scaloni, Argentina have many young players in their first international tournament. With Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala, pictured inset, and Angel di Maria among the other attackers, the concerns again lie in the defence, where Argentina look weak. If Messi can lead an Argentina team in transition to the title – at the home of their greatest rivals – all that pain and anguish from previous misses at the Copa America and World Cup will likely disappear in an instant.
Even in a career as stellar as Messi’s, it will rank as one of the highlights.