The outgoing Argentina captain Lionel Messi declared the national team "wasn't for him" after failing from the penalty spot against Chile and despite all his hardships and disappointments with Portugal, Ronaldo is still there
Lionel Messi retiring from international football could be just the boost Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal needed in their pursuit for a first-ever senior trophy at Euro 2016. It’s no secret that the individual rivalry motivates Ronaldo; indeed fans in France and all over the world have taunted the three-time Ballon d’Or winner with chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi” in full knowledge that it rankles. Messi departs the Argentina scene without having won a senior title and now Ronaldo knows he has a chance to do something his great adversary never will – lead his nation to glory.
Messi could never replace Diego Maradona in the hearts of Argentines and could only have done one thing to equal him – win the World Cup. Whatever the Champions Leagues, whatever the Ballons d’Or, only the sight of Messi holding aloft the World Cup trophy would have convinced Argentina to give their love to Messi like they had to Maradona. Argentina recognises that Messi is the greatest player in the world - and is proud of that fact – but the feeling persists that he is not truly theirs and - for the national team - his heart was just not in it.
“The national team is over for me,” he said after missing a penalty in the Copa Centenario shootout defeat to Chile. “That’s four finals (lost), it's not for me. The decision is made, I think." Maradona is the boy from the Barrio made good; Messi grew up in Barcelona. There is a widespread sensation that Messi reserves his best for Barca. It cannot now be disputed that he failed to match his international output to his club output. Sure, he ended up breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s goal scoring record but it took him many, many more caps to do it.
Messi’s international career was a disappointment – losing four senior finals – and now he’s quit. He faced unfamiliar criticism when playing for Argentina – judged like anyone else – and that was totally alien to a player who knows nothing but adoration at his club. He endured barren scoreless streaks – two and a half years long at one point – and had to be talked out of retiring from the national side at least once before. He was booed, jeered and regarded by the supporters as “the Catalan” during the 2011 Copa America when Argentina – collectively – and Messi – individually – came up short again.
The appointment of Alejandro Sabella brought the best football of Messi’s international career but he had to indulge him to get it. A conversation with Pep Guardiola – Messi’s club manager at the time – meant Messi would be captain and would play in the position he decided himself was best. Argentina were rewarded with their run to the 2014 World Cup final. Messi started that tournament like a man fulfilling destiny. He scored big, important goals in the group stage and there was a strong will for him to exorcise Maradona’s ghost.
He scored no knockout goals at that World Cup – or indeed any other – and the sight of him picking up the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player has been roundly mocked – even by Maradona himself. He did not have the “personality” for the captain’s role, according to Maradona. He would never be a “leader”. Those harsh words – caught in a conversation to Pele – were revealing.
He followed Copa heartache in 2011 with more in 2015 and now this. It is easy for Messi to quit – the hard thing would be to persist. He doesn’t have the stomach for that particular fight.
Ronaldo, though, endures. He is a man who risked everything to take Portugal through the 2014 World Cup. The patellar tendintis from which he suffered threatened to end his career there and then but he would not stop. It was Ronaldo’s four goals in the play-off round against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden the previous winter that Portugal could thank for their place in Brazil in the first place. For that contribution, he won the Ballon d’Or. Nothing Messi has ever done for Argentina has earned him his ones.
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Lionel Messi retiring from international football could be just the boost Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal needed in their pursuit for a first-ever senior trophy at Euro 2016. It’s no secret that the individual rivalry motivates Ronaldo; indeed fans in France and all over the world have taunted the three-time Ballon d’Or winner with chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi” in full knowledge that it rankles. Messi departs the Argentina scene without having won a senior title and now Ronaldo knows he has a chance to do something his great adversary never will – lead his nation to glory.
Messi could never replace Diego Maradona in the hearts of Argentines and could only have done one thing to equal him – win the World Cup. Whatever the Champions Leagues, whatever the Ballons d’Or, only the sight of Messi holding aloft the World Cup trophy would have convinced Argentina to give their love to Messi like they had to Maradona. Argentina recognises that Messi is the greatest player in the world - and is proud of that fact – but the feeling persists that he is not truly theirs and - for the national team - his heart was just not in it.
“The national team is over for me,” he said after missing a penalty in the Copa Centenario shootout defeat to Chile. “That’s four finals (lost), it's not for me. The decision is made, I think." Maradona is the boy from the Barrio made good; Messi grew up in Barcelona. There is a widespread sensation that Messi reserves his best for Barca. It cannot now be disputed that he failed to match his international output to his club output. Sure, he ended up breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s goal scoring record but it took him many, many more caps to do it.
Messi’s international career was a disappointment – losing four senior finals – and now he’s quit. He faced unfamiliar criticism when playing for Argentina – judged like anyone else – and that was totally alien to a player who knows nothing but adoration at his club. He endured barren scoreless streaks – two and a half years long at one point – and had to be talked out of retiring from the national side at least once before. He was booed, jeered and regarded by the supporters as “the Catalan” during the 2011 Copa America when Argentina – collectively – and Messi – individually – came up short again.
The appointment of Alejandro Sabella brought the best football of Messi’s international career but he had to indulge him to get it. A conversation with Pep Guardiola – Messi’s club manager at the time – meant Messi would be captain and would play in the position he decided himself was best. Argentina were rewarded with their run to the 2014 World Cup final. Messi started that tournament like a man fulfilling destiny. He scored big, important goals in the group stage and there was a strong will for him to exorcise Maradona’s ghost.
He scored no knockout goals at that World Cup – or indeed any other – and the sight of him picking up the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player has been roundly mocked – even by Maradona himself. He did not have the “personality” for the captain’s role, according to Maradona. He would never be a “leader”. Those harsh words – caught in a conversation to Pele – were revealing.
He followed Copa heartache in 2011 with more in 2015 and now this. It is easy for Messi to quit – the hard thing would be to persist. He doesn’t have the stomach for that particular fight.
Ronaldo, though, endures. He is a man who risked everything to take Portugal through the 2014 World Cup. The patellar tendintis from which he suffered threatened to end his career there and then but he would not stop. It was Ronaldo’s four goals in the play-off round against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden the previous winter that Portugal could thank for their place in Brazil in the first place. For that contribution, he won the Ballon d’Or. Nothing Messi has ever done for Argentina has earned him his ones.
Click to read more on GOAL
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