Why doesn't the lethal Barcelona legend provide the same spark for Argentina?

Lionel Messi, arguably the best footballer of the modern era, is an Argentine footballer who has been playing for La Liga club FC Barcelona since 2004. He is currently the captain of the Argentina national team. He currently holds the record as the all-time top scorer for Barcelona in all official club competitions. He plays in the forward position for both Barcelona and Argentina. The criticism is still on regarding his form when it comes to the national stage of playing for Argentina. Messi has scored 28goals in 73 matches for Argentina at an average of 0.38 and has scored 217 goals in 173 matches for Barcelona at an average of 1.25 goals per match. The way we see Lionel playing for Barcelona, scoring goals and providing numerous assists, is not the same when he plays for Argentina. When compared to the evergreen legend of the world, Diego Maradona, Messi has always lagged behind.

Even another legend, Pele, said to Messi: You’ll never be a legend unless you score a thousand goals like I did!

There are many reasons why the Barcelona star footballer has not been able to deliver the best for his nation. Messi has been playing for Barcelona since 2004 and he knows the club conditions and playing conditions so well because he is with the club for the entire year. He trains with the same guys for months after months and thus has been delivering the best every year for his club. We all believe that club is not country. You play, eat, train, travel, live and do everything with the club, however national duty is not the same. You don’t get to train with the same guys throughout the year, nor do you grow with them. You grow with your club and fellow club mates and thus always deliver the best for your club rather your national football teammates, whom you seldom meet and train with.

South American football is different compared to the European style of football. Messi is more suited towards European football as he has been playing in Europe for more than 7 years continuously. He plays with a star studded Barcelona team compared to the Argentina national team which consists of few star footballers. The playing style is different, the playing formation is different. 4-3-3 is what Barcelona plays with, compared to Argentina’s 4-4-2 which provides Messi with lesser space to play with and score goals.

Higuain, Aguero, Di Maria and Tevez are not Villa, Iniesta, Pedro, Xavi

Barcelona has the finest midfielders in the name of Iniesta and Xavi who provide lots of assists for Messi, which lets him play freely and score numerous goals. When it comes to Argentina, Messi is the one who fights for the ball in the midfield and has to assist Tevez, Higuain and others. This pushes him back from the forward line and he doesn’t get ample opportunities to score goals for his nation, which Maradona and Pele have done for their countries. This is when the criticism begins that Messi is a club footballer and he doesn’t play to his full potential for his nation. The problem is that his Argentine mates are not used to his generosity and speed which is easily matched by his Barcelona mates. Argetina has a star studded striking force only, but Barcelona is a club team comprising of the best midfielders, strikers and defenders and is a complete team.

Messi is so successful with his club Barcelona because his understanding is very good with his fellow club mates compared to his fellow country mates. His club mates are very well accustomed to his playing style, pace and style whereas his country mates hardly get time to practice with him to get accustomed to his style. As a result, Messi doesn’t get to play to his same potential which he does for Barcelona and this is when every Argentina fans starts blaming him as “Messi plays only for his club side and not for his country”.

A single man cannot make a difference for his country. He needs support from others too. So instead of accusing Messi for not being a country man, we should understand – what Maradona did for Argentina single handedly cannot be done in today’s football. Things have changed. Football is a team game so we can only hope that Argentina will have more supporting players who will support Messi, which his Barcelona team mates have been doing over the years. Till then, let Messi entertain the world with his merciless football skills.