Lionel Messi has retired from global football after Argentina crashed to a defeat against Chile in the final of the Copa America.
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Messi, who scored a record 55 goals in 113 appearances for his country, quit after missing a penalty as a second successive Copa America final saw Chile beat Argentina in a shoot-out. “It hurts not to be a champion”. “I want more than anyone to win a title with the national team, but unfortunately, it did not happen”, Messi said after the match. In the final of the 2007 Copa America, the 5 times world best footballer also tasted defeat with Argentina.
Argentina President Mauricio Macri has been reported to have joined his people in appealing to Lionel Messi to reconsider his global retirement.
After Sunday night’s game, Messi said he might quit playing for Argentina’s national team.
“It’s tough, it’s not the time for analysis. Messi must go on”, the 1986 World Cup victor told La Nacion.
Aguero, who shared with Messi the pain of consecutive defeats in Copa America finals to Chile and the loss of the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, confirmed that the devastation of another near miss had many contemplating a similar move. It pains me more than anyone not being able to be a champion with Argentina, but thats the way it is.
But Messi’s decision also has some political motives, with most of the Argentina players exasperated with their football association.
Lionel Messi celebrates his goal for Argentina against Iran at the World Cup.
He then followed that salvo by saying that Argentina’s players should not bother returning to their homeland if they failed to win Sunday’s final.
“But I believe that we have to give Messi some space, so that he stays with his family and his club and enjoys being there”.
But his only major global honour is Olympic gold at the 2008 Games.
He is the national teams career leading scorer with 55 goals in 113 worldwide appearances.
Despite the back-to-back celebration for the Chilean team, Lionel Messi became the center of attention as it was the first time in his career that he missed a penalty shooting.
Some fans, players, and even Argentina’s president and the country’s greatest player Diego Maradona asked Messi to reconsider.
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Argentina coach Gerardo Martino sympathised with Messi.
