3 reasons why Lionel Messi could help end Argentina's 28-year wait for Copa America glory

#1 Ronaldo's Nations League triumph could become the extra motivation Messi needs

Ronaldo won his second trophy with Portugal.

The Ronaldo/Messi rivalry is well documented, as the pair have taken football to new heights and performed feats which were previously thought unimaginable.

The rivalry is arguably the greatest in human history and quite possibly the most intense in the annals of professional sports. Nothing comes close. Not Joe Frazier/Muhammed Ali in Boxing, Sebastian Vettel/Lewis Hamilton in Formula One, Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal in Tennis, Magic Johnson/Larry Bird in Basketball, or any other sporting rivalry you can think of.

Over the last decade, both men have set records too numerous to list and fans have been engaged in a bitter and rather tiresome debate over who the better is, with virtually every football fan on the planet on one side or the other.

Even though it is almost impossible to determine who the better player is, it is unarguable that the two are among the greatest in history and we have been blessed to witness the pair grace the fields of our beautiful game.

Both men in the past have stated that their competition with one another pushes each to strive to be better and their performances at club level are so pristine such that they can barely be distinguished, with Ronaldo counterbalancing Messi's domestic dominance with extraterrestrial performances on the continent.

However, if there is one area where the Portuguese has a distinct advantage over his Argentine contemporary, it is on the international scene, as Lionel Messi has quite been unable to match his club form with Barcelona on the international scene with Argentina.

Ronaldo's EURO 2016 triumph meant he helped his nation win their first ever major trophy, and just two weeks later, Messi suffered heartbreak in the final of the Copa America centenarrio which happened to be his third consecutive and fourth final defeat with Argentina.

To make matters worse for Messi, a Ronaldo inspired hat-trick was enough to fire Portugal to the final of the maiden edition of the UEFA Nations League earlier in 2019 and even though he did not score in the final, a Goncalo Guedes goal was enough to see him win his second international trophy in three years with Portugal and this is a fact Twitter was quick to rub in Messi's face.

🇵🇹 Portugal before Ronaldo:• 0 finals playedPortugal with Ronaldo:• 3 finals / 2 finals won🇦🇷Argentina before Messi:• 2 World Cups won• 14 Copa Americas won• 1 Confederations Cup won Argentina with Messi:• 4 finals played. 0 finals won Class dismissed. pic.twitter.com/woWF3wxZMG

— Danny WelBeast (@WellBeast) June 10, 2019

With Ronaldo's second trophy won with Portugal, Lionel Messi would be determined to get closer to his great rival and this could see him go out of his way to lead his nation to Copa America glory.