Did Lionel Messi miss out on his best chance of capturing World Cup glory?

Lionel Messi and Argentina dejected after losing in the World Cup final to Germany

Modern day Argentine footballing icon Lionel Messi has clearly revealed the profundity of his anger and annoyance a day after losing the FIFA 2014 World Cup finals to arch rivals Germany. Did Messi miss out his ultimate chance of capturing gold in FIFA 2014?

Huge expectations from Messi at the World Cup

The talismanic Barcelona forward was touted as a firm favorite to inspire and win the World Cup for Argentina, thereby sealing his place in the elite league of World Cup winning footballing legends like Pele and Diego Maradona, not to forget Zinedine Zidane. Critics and media had already hyped him as carrying the prospects of an entire nation, where football is a more than just a game, it is a culture.

Messi had the perfect chance in making the World Cup his tournament and matching Diego Maradona by leading Argentina to glory, which even more pleasingly would have been on the territory of arch rivals Brazil, a feat which hardly could have been matched in the near future.

Messi’s performance in Brazil

As the 2014 World Cup was underway, critics and experts had already started comparing his performance to Maradona, who was at a similar stage of his career in 1986. Messi did live up to his tag of a superstar by scoring 4 goals in the group stages and taking Argentina though to the Round of 16 with ease. It was especially a dead ball situation against Nigeria that brought out the best from the 27-year-old genius. A world class free kick having all the ingredients of accuracy, precision, swing and pace highlighted his master class skills.

As Argentina glided through to the pre-quarters having won all three of its group games, expectations from the modern day footballing legend were on a constant rise. Nevertheless the matches against Switzerland and especially Belgium did not match up to the elevated standards set earlier by the Argentine forward himself. Albeit the match against Switzerland saw Messi setting up the winning goal for Di Maria just minutes before the final whistle.

Alejandro Sabella’s side was up against the likes of a forceful Netherlands, under the tactical genius of Louis Van Gaal in the semi-final. Messi and company kept running into a defensive wall of Dutch master class for 120 minutes. An unexpected but equally determined defensive display by Sabella’s men dragged the match into the penalties. It was the first World Cup semi-final ever to end 0-0. The Barcelona striker had put Argentina in front with his first penalty kick, but the hero turned out to be Sergio Romero; the underperforming goalkeeper who made his first mark in Brazil, not to forget the gritty performance of Javier Mascherano, quite correctly touted as Argentina’s unsung hero.

Estádio Maracanã at Rio witnessed Argentina go down for a third consecutive time in a World Cup match against the refined Germans, the second successive loss for La Albiceleste in a World Cup final match against Die Mannschaft. The final saw a disappointing performance from the Argentine strikers, with Messi missing out on a golden chance to take Argentina home. Mario Goetze scored the solitary goal late in extra time to seal the deal for the Germans.

Messi in Brazil 2014 versus Maradona in Mexico 1986

Brazil 2014 has witnessed a fiery comparison between two of the greatest Argentine footballing legends, Maradona and Messi, with various critics citing interesting viewpoints, such as similar ages of both superstars, Maradona and Messi both being around 26 years old. Moreover, both of them not winning the prestigious “Ballon d'Or” in the respective years, with Maradona not winning it in 1986 and Lionel Messi not wining it in 2014, this World Cup was superstitiously tagged as Messi’s World Cup.

Apparently, quite contrary to predictions and superstitions, Messi’s performance started deteriorating as the World Cup progressed. There was a stark contrast in their performance graphs with the one for Maradona improving as the 1986 World Cup progressed in Mexico and the one for Messi falling gradually in Brazil 2014. In 1986, Diego Maradona scored most of his goals post Argentina reaching the round of 16 whereas Lionel Messi had not netted a single goal since qualifying for the round of 16 in Brazil 2014. The analysis of performances of both these superstars vividly highlights the irrelevance of superstition in the world of football predictions.

Talking points post World Cup

Meanwhile some stalwarts and celebrated figures of footballing world have already defended Messi, citing that he does not need the World Cup to his much coveted accomplishments to become a footballing legend, including the likes of Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho and the Argentine national team manager Alejandro Sabella, with the latter saying that Messi is already a great and has nothing more to prove.

Albeit the significance of not winning the World Cup was apparent on the distressed expression of Lionel Messi whilst collecting the Golden Ball award at Estádio Maracanã. The gifted Argentine forward admitted that this was best chance of them taking the trophy to Argentina and said that they deserved more than being runners up. He also added that nothing can console him at this juncture.

As Messi had reportedly said, the Golden Ball award was not something he would have settled for in Brazil 2014, as by the time we have FIFA Russia 2018, he would have turned 30. So did Messi miss out his greatest chance of capturing gold in Brazil? Will he be able to write his name in the exclusive league of World Cup winning legends? Will be able to silence the critics of him performing better in a Barcelona Jersey rather than the La Albiceleste team jersey? Can he be arguably termed as the best player in history of world football considering achievements of both international and club football?

Well, only the 2018 World Cup in Russia can answer.