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Everybody knows that Lionel Messi is one of the greatest footballers of all time. He closed the 2018/19 league season on a high, scoring 36 goals and providing 13 assists. He won the La Liga title despite losing to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.
Unfortunately, his record with the national team continues to be a stark contrast to his achievements at club level. Messi has led Argentina to 4 finals so far. Sadly, he failed to win any of the 4 finals, and he seems set to endure another disappointment in the current Copa America.
Argentina suffered their worst ever start to a Copa America recently, losing 2 goals to nil to Colombia. They also failed to beat Paraguay in their second match of the competition. Luckily, they defeated Qatar while Colombia beat Paraguay. Hence, Argentina finished 2nd in their group.
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Despite progressing to the knockout stage, Argentina are still not favorites to win the tournament. Messi also failed to register any goals or assist in Argentina's 2-0 win over Venezuela. However, a Copa America exit will surely impact Messi's career. Here, we will take a look at 3 things that might happen to the Barca maestro if Argentina suffer another humiliation.
#3 Many will question his captaincy once more
No one could doubt Messi's quality as a player. He had another mesmerizing spell with Barcelona, and no other player came close to him in terms of goal involvements last season. However, his leadership quality has long been questioned.
Barcelona have not been able to lift a single Champions League title since they appointed Messi as the club's captain in 2018. They lost to AS Roma and Liverpool in 2017/18 and 2018/19 Champions League respectively.
The Catalans got knocked out in the second leg despite having a huge advantage from the first leg. Argentina national football team have also endured a bitter fate since Messi became their captain in 2011.
Messi guided Argentina to 2 Copa America finals as a captain. Unfortunately, Argentina endured consecutive defeats to Chile in both finals. These 2 defeats could be proofs of Messi's failure to provide sufficient motivation to his teammates during important times.
The Barcelona megastar also failed to win the 2014 World Cup after losing to Germany in the final. Now, Messi is still unable to lead Argentina to major international titles, and another Copa America defeat will do further damage to his reputation as a captain.
#2 He might lose to Virgil van Dijk in the Ballon d'Or race
This year could be Messi's best chance to claim his 6th Ballon d'Or. He was the top goalscorer of last season's Champions League and La Liga, and Cristiano Ronaldo did not even come close to him. Unfortunately, everybody knows that van Dijk will be Messi's greatest threat in the Ballon d'Or race this time.
The Dutch star has cemented his reputation as Europe's best defender after Liverpool's Champions League triumph. Van Dijk also captained the Netherlands and successfully led his national team to the UEFA Nations League final.
No player dribbled past the imposing 27-year-old in both the Premier and Champions League last season. Hence, Messi should demand no less than a Copa America title, if he wants to stand a chance against the Liverpool star in the Ballon d'Or race.
However, Messi will still have a mountain to climb even if he wins the Copa, as he was unable to record a convincing performance during the group stage of the competition.
#1 Ronaldo could have the last laugh
The debate surrounding Messi-Ronaldo rivalry has no sign of slowing down. Both players have claimed no less than 5 Ballon d'Ors each, and both have their positives and negatives. However, it seems as though Messi is now ahead of Ronaldo after the Argentinian's impressive season with Barcelona.
Unfortunately for Messi, Ronaldo could have the last laugh if Argentina fail to secure the Copa America title. The Portuguese megastar has been a better player than Messi in terms of international titles since the 34-year-old won the 2016 Euro.
Many have seen Messi's GOAT (greatest of all time) status as an anomaly, as the Argentinian has never won any major international title despite being regarded as one of the best in the sport.
Messi has hit past his 30 and might not have much time left to battle for international titles. Hence, he would not be able to escape from Ronaldo's shadow unless Argentina manage to win the Copa.
