The whole footballing world was in shock when they heard one of football’s greatest, Lionel Messi, announce his retirement from international football. The announcement came after Argentina lost to Chile on penalties in the Copa America Centenario final on Monday.
This was the third consecutive final that La Albiceleste failed to win since 2014. All three times, Lionel Messi was the captain for Argentina and now he has decided to take responsibility for the South American country’s failure by quitting the international team. The 29-year-old has received some criticism from football followers and pundits for not showing up in the final. Some of them have even termed Messi as a ‘choker’, but is that the truth? Let’s take a look at Messi’s record in big tournament finals for both Argentina and FC Barcelona.
#1 International Tournaments
Lionel Messi has led his country to three finals – 2014 World Cup, 2015 Copa America and 2016 Copa America Centenario. Even though Argentina put up great performances, they ended up on the losing side on all of the three occasions.
La Albiceleste played the 2014 FIFA World Cup final against Germany and the game looked to be heading towards a 0-0 draw, before Mario Gotze, who came on a substitute, worked his magic and scored the winning goal for his country. Messi drove 4 shots in the game but failed to hit the target. He also played 2 key passes during the game for his teammates, but Argentina failed to break the deadlock.
The Copa America final of 2015 was played between Argentina and hosts Chile. The game was controlled by Messi’s side but the brilliance of Chilean goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, forced the game to end in a 0-0 stalemate after extra time. The game went to penalties and Gonzalo Higuain skied his spot-kick before Bravo won the game for Chile after saving Ever Banega’s penalty. Messi was silent throughout the game and was only able to record one shot and one key pass during the game.
History repeated itself in 2016. Last year’s winners and runners-up again faced each other in this year’s Copa America – which was held outside South America to celebrate 100 years of the tournament. The game went to penalties again and like last year Bravo saved a crucial penalty from Lucas Biglia which paved the way for Chile’s win. Messi wasn’t allowed to weave his magic by the Chilean defense but still he managed to drive two shots of which one was on target, while also providing one key pass.
Messi was also the part of the Argentinean team that lost 3-0 to Brazil in the finals of 2007 Copa America, in a game in which La Albiceleste were thoroughly outplayed.
#2 UEFA Champions League
Lionel Messi has played in three Champions League finals so far in his career and, unlike his international record, the diminutive forward has won all those games. The Barcelona forward’s three Champions League finals were played in 2009, 2011 and 2015. His first Champions League final appearance came against Manchester United in 2009, when the now 29-year-old played a pivotal role in Barcelona’s victory, scoring one goal while helping Andres Iniesta in setting up Samuel Eto’s goal.
Lionel Messi was declared as the Fans’ Man of the Match after he inspired his side to a 2-0 victory. The Argentine international recorded two shots that day out of which one was on target (resulted in goal), while he also played one key pass.
His second Champions League final appearance also came against English Premier League giants, Manchester United. This time, he not only became the Fans’ Man of the Match, but was also declared as UEFA’s Man of the Match. Messi capped off his brilliant performance with a goal to help Barcelona secure a 3-1 win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. During the game, Messi registered 5 shots, of which 3 were on target, while also creating 3 chances for his team.
The 5-time Ballon d’Or winners’ latest Champions League final appearance was against Serie A Champions Juventus in 2015. The diminutive forward failed to receive any individual awards nor did he score any goals, but he didn’t fail to show up. Messi, again, played a key role for the Catalan club in their 3-1 victory against the Old Lady.
His most notable contribution that day was his shot from the edge of the box in the 68th minute of the game, which was parried away by Gianluigi Buffon, but Luis Suarez was at hand to put the ball into the net and give his side the lead. An injury time goal from Neymar helped seal the game for the La Liga winners. During the course of the game, Messi attempted three shots, but only one of them was on target, while the diminutive forward also made one key pass.
#3 UEFA Super Cup
UEFA Super Cup is a match contested between the Champions League winners and Europa League winners of a particular year. We just talked about how Lionel Messi inspired his club to three Champions League trophies, so obviously, he has also played in three UEFA Super Cup matches. And apart from that he has also played in another Super Cup match in 2006, when Barcelona beat Arsenal to win the lift the Champions League, however, Messi did not feature for the Catalan giants in the final but he played the entire 90 minutes in their UEFA Super Cup match against Sevilla.
The Blaugrana succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in the game and the then 19-year-old didn’t have much influence on the game, but that was the only Super Cup match in which he failed to have a decisive impact. The 5 time Balon d'Or winner made sure that his team won the cup in their next three attempts, i.e. in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
In the 2009 Super Cup match against Shakhtar Donetsk, the Argentine’s brilliance paved the way for a Pedro goal which was enough to seal the game for the Camp Nou outfit. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his performance on the night and he recorded two shots (one on target) during the game, while also providing two key passes to his teammates.
Once again, the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner put on an amazing performance in Barcelona’s next Super Cup match against Porto in 2011. The Argentine scored the opener before assisting Fabregas’ goal to help the Blaugrana record a 2-0 win against the Portuguese club. His only shot of the match rippled the back of the net, while he also made 2 key passes of which one was the assist for the second goal.
The 29-year-old’s last Super Cup appearances came against Sevilla last year, with the game ending in a 5-4 victory for Barcelona. In the goal-fest, Messi was declared as the Man of the Match for his two goals – both from free-kicks. Messi made a total of 8 shots out of which 4 were on target (2 of those shots rattled the back of the net). The Argentine missed a chance to score a hat-trick after his penalty was saved by the Sevilla goalkeeper, but it was Messi’s shot in the 115th minute which was parried away by Beto, that led to the winner for Barcelona as Pedro scored the rebound.
#4 Copa Del Rey
Copa Del Rey is a Spain’s premier knockout tournament and Barcelona have dominated it during Messi’s reign. The diminutive forward has taken part in six of Copa Del Rey finals and has helped them win four of them. Both of his Copa Del Rey final losses came against arch-rivals, Real Madrid. The Catalan club could only score one goal in both of those matches and Messi didn’t have any influences in those fixtures. In the Copa Del Rey finals of 2014, Messi endured an uncharacteristically silent night and he only managed to attempt three shots, all of which failed to hit the target.
Three of Messi’s La Copa victories were against Athletic Bilbao (2009, 2012 and 2015) and he scored a total of 4 goals and assisted one in those three matches. He was also declared as the Man Of The Match in 2015, wherein he registered 3 shots of which all the three were on target and two ended up in the back of the net. In the 2012 Copa Del Rey finals against Bilbao, the Argentine was very influential and registered 7 shots (4 on target) and 3 key passes. During the course of the three finals, Messi was involved in five of the 10 goals scored by his team.
The 29-year-old's last Copa del Rey final was in May where Barcelona won 2-0 against Sevilla. Even though Messi failed to score a goal, it was his exquisite passing that led to the two goals. His beautiful footwork and an even better through pass paved the way for an easy finish for Neymar and later another over the top ball led to Jordi Alba’s goal. Messi also registered 6 shots during the game, out of which 3 were on target, while also playing two key passes – both of which resulted in goals.
| Tournament | Appearances | Goals | Assists | MOTM | Win | Loss |
| International | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| UEFA Champions League | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| UEFA Super Cup | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Copa del Rey | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Total | 17 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 7 |
All these stats and facts clearly show that Messi is not a ‘choker’ rather a match winner. The 29-year-old has only lost seven out of seventeen finals that he has featured in, unfortunately, four of these came for Argentina. He has played crucial roles in all the 10 finals that he has won (58.9% win rate in finals).
But the fact that he couldn’t win a single final out of the four he has played for Argentina doesn’t do justice to the incredible player that he it, but it certainly raises several questions in the minds of football lovers. Why couldn’t Messi win a trophy with his national team? Was it because he failed to turn up? Or was it because his teammates just weren’t good enough on the night of the final?
It is not at all fair to say that Messi didn’t turn up for the international tournament finals. He did the best he could and was an inspiration to his teammates. It also won’t be correct to say that his Argentinean teammates weren’t good enough as they played as a unit and put up a good show on each of the three occasions, but bad luck and a few poor decisions cost them the three trophies.
It is really a sad sight to see a great player like Messi to retire from international football at the age of just 29. He has made his decision and there’s nothing we football fans could do other than hope that he would reconsider it.
