It is sometimes easy to forget that Lionel Messi retired from international football in 2016. Argentina had just lost in the Copa América to Chile, a fourth final defeat in nine years, and Messi had missed a penalty in the shootout. “For me, the national team is over,” he said. “I’ve done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion.”
Luckily for Messi, and Argentinian football fans, he changed his mind two months later, in time for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. The tournament in Russia did not bring the success he or his country had hoped for but three years later it all fell into place for the captain with victory in the Copa América.
