After losing his fourth final for his country – after the World Cup two years ago and the Copa America in 2007 and 2015 – an emotional Messi said: ‘That’s it. It’s over for me with the national team’.
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Don’t cry for me, Argentina.
He accused it of not supporting Messi and letting him take the blame for Sunday’s defeat.
Diego Maradona jumped to the defence of Messi after the Barça star said that he would retire from global football following Argentina’s loss in a second consecutive Copa América final – both to Chile.
It was the third heartbreaking final defeat in three summers for Messi, who quit surprisingly in the wake of his own missed spot-kick which contributed to Argentina’s penalty shootout defeat.
“The fans expect him to be leader and football star at the same time but it appears he’s not prepared for the social pressure the national team demands”, he told the Argentine website www.infobae.com.
“Messi has to continue with the national team”.
Messi said after Sunday’s defeat that for him, the national team was “over” and that “it hurts not to be a champion”. “He will go to Russian Federation in form to be world champion”, Maradona was quoted as saying by La Nacion.
But he also had a troubled start to the build-up to the final, openly criticising the Argentine FA (AFA) over disrupted travel plans from Houston to East Rutherford in New Jersey.
“It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn’t get it, so I think it’s over”, he told reporters Sunday night.
Argentina are already six games into their qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
“I don’t want him to quit but when I put myself in his shoes it seems unfair that they should look to him as the savior when there are 11 players on the team”.
“Those who are saying he should quit are doing it so that we won’t see what a disaster Argentine football has become”, said the 55-year-old who was Argentina coach in the 2010 World Cup.
Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, but took its last major title in 1993 with the Copa America championship. ESPN sources have reported that Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, and Lucas Biglia are also considering retirement.
“Messi was abandoned and I don’t want to abandon him”.
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And Argentine television channel TyC has reported that the country’s president, Mauricio Macri, has called the No. 10 to ask him to reconsider. “He feels like you would expect a player to feel after playing and losing a final”.
